The Truth (As I See It)

Questioning Authority

2011-09-28T13:04:00.001-07:00

Here is a little podcast for today. BTW - the film referenced in here is "Curing Addiction". Just push play below to listen (unless you're using Google Chrome and it's messed up on browser too, in which case it is probably already playing), and I hope you like it...

Playing Hurt

2011-09-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

I think middle fingers are symbols of strength and rebellion. Mine have been through quite a bit, and seem to be a reflection of my own life, in a way.

When I was seven I fractured one of my middle fingers playing baseball. I played catcher one game, but used a regular glove instead of a catcher's mit. Despite that injury early on my love for baseball continued and I wound up being a pretty good player (though stayed away from being a catcher).

A few years later when I was 11 my coach over-threw the first baseman during base running drills at practice and hit me in the face. I wound up with my eye swollen shut and seven stitches in my eyebrow, but I only missed one game.

When I was 13 I ripped open my other middle finger during basketball practice by touching the top of the doorway and getting it caught on the "x" in an exit sign. I got nine stitches, but still played as soon as I got my stitches out.

At 15 I got hit in the face with a baseball again before a game. This time I didn't need stitches, but I broke my nose, which bled slowly for over a week and had two black eyes, and still played in that game. Every day now I am reminded of that incident when I look in the mirror and see my crooked nose.

Then I was out of school and didn't play sports for a while, but the injuries took different forms. I suffered through a self-destructive phase but came out on the other end using my experiences to help others.

However, it wasn't the end of the physical injuries either. A few years ago I tried to catch a falling glass (I know, not smart), and I cut my middle finger deeply and my ring finger as well. I got 17 more stitches between the two. I wound up having some nerve damage, but figured out how to keep typing (as a content writer and web publisher I spent most of my time on a keyboard) and got through a very difficult financial time.

Now I'm dealing with other forms of hurt, and once again trying to play through it. What other choice is there, really, other than deciding that you will overcome the adversity and work to achieve your goals. I have to remind myself that in each and every case I put myself in the position to get hurt to cause it directly or indirectly, but I don't regret being there or doing what I was doing at any of the times, despite the pain I had to deal with.

Two days ago I was cleaning out my car before going on a long drive and reached under the seat and took a layer of skin off the back of the same middle finger I had already gotten stitches in twice. I looked and had to laugh to myself when I saw how beat up that finger is in its scarred and disfigured state, but like the symbolism of the middle finger, I'm pressing on regardless of the obstacles because it's the right thing to do.

In the past week I've had a chance to have conversations with two very cool people who I have only briefly known, both of whom are battling their own scars and injuries. I hope I was able to enhance their lives as much as I feel enriched by being able to share such deep conversations with relative strangers.

Both of these people also watched my new film, "Curing Addiction", after my conversations wtih them, and I hope it was able to have an additional positive impact on their lives. So far the feedback from it has been great, and its ability to help people is a huge validation for having persisted despite the personal barriers I had to overcome in the last few months to even get it completed.

And so, once again I look at my middle finger and invite others to raise theirs as well and say a big "f___ you" to the challenges you have to face while going down your own path.

Sometimes you just gotta play hurt.

I encourage others to try and stay true to their own ideals and be honest with themselves as they work through the adversity, as I try to do the same.

What I Believe

2011-08-31T22:20:00.000-07:00

I believe in the inherent goodness of people.

I believe in each individual's right to communicate.

I believe in treating others with compassion and respect.

I believe in personal responsibility, but also forgiveness.

I believe that people can change.

I believe that people create their own future.

I believe that problems in life are meant to be overcome and are part of living.

I believe in setting a good example for others.

I believe we all have the fundamental ability to heal - ourselves and others.

I believe that a person's character is measured by the sum of their actions, not brief windows in time.

I believe that art mediums can relay ideas more powerfully than plain words.

I believe in the wondrous enthusiasm and playfulness of children.

I believe that helping others in life brings great satisfaction.

I believe in seeking your personal truths.

I believe in love.

I believe in you.

Navigating the Human Experience

2011-08-11T15:28:00.000-07:00

We are currently in a culture in America where we are discouraged to be ourselves and actually experience life. What I mean is that there are continual influences that are aimed at convincing us we should be, do or feel something different than who we really are and what we really want for ourselves.

The best example of this I can think of this the constant barrage of advertising for prescription drugs to change our moods, when the actual fact is that despite any short-term benefit that an artificial substance may appear to have, they really rob us of living. One of the best parts of life is getting to feel things and experience them, which include both the highs and lows and everthing in between. Pain, suffering and loss is something that everyone has to go through, but if you're really living true to yourself then you will also experience, love, joy, excitement, nervousness, boredom, pride and exhiliration.

One of the ways we encounter these various emotions is by creating problems for ourselves, whether consciously or not. It's the basis for all good stories, too; someone has a goal or ambition, but there are obstacles in the way. We even create more problems sometimes in an effort to solve other ones, and this isn't always bad. What counts is that you are truthful and honest with yourself about your intentions, and whether or not you are treating others in life the way you would want them to treat you in return. If you are doing those things and working toward achieving those ambitions then the troublesome spots in life don't seem as bad and don't last as long, because the positive will always outweigh the negative, even though we go through difficult situations at times.

However, if you follow the mainstream media and believe the world is overshadowed with evil and tragedy, then of course you will feel bad more often. We also become more susceptible to the marketing efforts of drug companies, believing that their latest pill is going to be the one to change all of that for you.

Another aspect of the drive to be something artificial is the celeb-centric false idolization of some famous people because of what they wear, what they look like or who they date. Real celebrities and idols should have some positive impact on our lives, not make us feel worse for not having what they have. True artists do what they do because they enjoy it, because it really is who they are, and because they feel they have something to communicate. These people enhance our culture, and thankfully there are celebrities who are also true artists and even humanitarians as well.

While of course there is nothing wrong with wanting something more or better for yourself or your life, but those should be goals you are working on, not used against you as a constant reminder of something you aren't or don't have.

There are also other influences in groups that can have a negative effect on lives as well. One example could be where a handful of school kids pick on one of their classmates simply because the leader of the group does, despite knowing for themselves it's not okay and feeling bad for doing so. It's not just kids where this applies though, there are plenty of situations as adults in which this occurs as well.

One of the biggest is in the area of religion. Sometimes people become convinced that the other person or group must be wrong or evil, despite the inner realization that it is not true, yet the divisiveness grows and becomes more solid. Look at the Westboro Baptist Church scenario. Despite their actions, I do not believe that all of the people in that congregation are bad. I just feel that they fell victim to group agreement created by a leader who appears to be insane.

In addition to religions, we also see this among political parties and countries. Individuals become so convinced that the others are bad and even go to war in some cases where the soldiers themselves don't really even know why they are there or what they are fighting for, other than that is what their leader says to do.

When we begin to criticize and judge others without really knowing them then we are actually creating our own enemies. Only a very small number of people in this world are truly insane or evil, but when we begin to label others and create more divisions then we box ourselves in by doing so. I know I've found myself doing that before and I am truly apologetic for judging people instead of simply allowing them to be who they are and accepting that they are not me.

We have to allow people to be themselves. Sometimes this can be difficult due to the conditioning and influences in our lives, but we become less of our true selves every time we completely condemn another person. I'm not saying to just allow everyont to have a free-for-all on anything and everything and not do anything about it, but what I am saying is that sometimes you just have to let people experience life just as you are willing to experience it yourself. Sure, it's fine to have opinions and offer advice or try to reason with people in a conflict, but at the end of the day they are still entitled to be who they are. People are inherently good-natured, and the more you validate their humanity then the more you will see and experience goodness in return. Living by example isn't just a virtue, it is a natural law.

So please, try and see the beauty in things around you, even those things that are different and that you even find annoying. If someone in your life is trying to influence you otherwise, it's okay to question why. After all, the experiences in life are the reason for living. I don't think it's an idealistic or Utopian concept, because this means accepting the conflicts as well and working through them, not the deletion of all problems. The world wouldn't be any fun if we didn't have problems to solve, and artificially covering them up isn't going to work either.

We can improve those experiences simply by shifting our own viewpoint a bit, and then working toward the continued betterment of ourselves, our families, friends and associates, activities and workplaces as well as our environment.

Fond Memories of Live Music

2011-06-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

Growing up my dad and my brother both have had a real love of music, and as a result I was introduced to many types.

My first concert (when I was 8) was Huey Lewis and the News at the Capital Centre in Washington, DC. That was a very cool experience as my first live concert. Then we moved to Georgia and I got to see Bruce Springsteen at the old Omni (since replaced by Phillips Arena), followed by Robert Plant. It was funny because I was only 10 yrs old at Robert Plant and I was so tired that I actually fell asleep in my seat during the concert before it was over. Tom Petty was another classic that I'll never forget.

In high school one of my favorite concerts was Stone Temple Pilots at Lakewood Amphitheater. I loved those guys. Later I saw Carlos Santana at the same venue.

While I didn't seem to possess the same veracity of fanhood as my dad and brother for many artists, I did get exposed to more music than I would have sought out on my own, especially since I listened to a lot of rap.

On my 21st birthday my brother and I saw Kid Rock doing an interview at a bar and he walked up and asked him and the DJ for tickets to the show the next night, which he got. We went down and brought some friends and saw Staind open and then Kid Rock at the Cotton Club. That was an awesome show.

The biggest variety of music came at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. That is something that I think all music lovers should experience at some point in their lives. The whole vibe is incredible, and over the few times I went I got to see some memorable shows by Dave Matthews Band, CC Adcock, North Mississippi All Stars, Galactic, John Hyatt, Jimmy Buffet, and so many more. That's really when I became a closet Blues lover. Some electric slide guitar and a raspy voice seems to set the mood for some great writing for me, and getting to see people like Tab Benoit, Walter Trout and many others is something I could do every night and be happy.

I really have to thank my dad for his introducing me to so much. His love of music has continued to grow since my childhood. He formed a band that played at my high school graduation and over the years at many places in North Georgia, organized two music festivals, operated a live music club for a year, and has since moved on to managing bands and having his own record label and publishing company by forming InTune Entertainment. Through his endeavors I have even started to listen to some country music (which I resisted before). I also really enjoy two acts he works with currently, the Adam Craig Band and the Chris Weaver Band.

Something About Tolerance

2011-04-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

In my expansion of understanding of myself, others, and life in general, I have recently been focused on one word that seems to be most applicable to my viewpoint: tolerance. According to dictionary.com, tolerance is "a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry."

I am applying this to my current project, which is a documentary film about substance abuse treatment philosophies not based on the traditional 12 step model or the disease theory of addiction.

As a result of seeing a reciprocation of this approach, I've found myself applying it to other areas of life as well, and can directly see the positive results. To me, tolerance in relationship building (or repairing) is about finding common ground, or points of agreement, to then build on. This creates a shift away from disagreement and a breakdown in an ability to sanely communicate and instead moves toward a desire to work in accordance with toward a shared goal. I strongly recommend others trying this and see what benefits they have in their life as well.

The Power of Decision

2011-04-19T20:04:00.000-07:00

Despite hearing and reading about the power of decision for many years, I am just now re-experiencing it for myself. I have had several years of indecision and inactivity in certain areas of life, especially career-wise, and I recently just decided to move forward with a film project I'm working on.

As a result I'm more excited about my work than I have been in a long time. There are challenges and barriers, for sure, but with the earlier decision and dedication to it I have so far been able to pick up steam instead of losing it. Prior to this, I would start on something, but then either never finish it, do a poor job of it, or simply drop it completely in favor of the bread-winning duties only.

Another positive thing that has become of this is that I have become more productive overall when I feel like I'm accomplishing something, or at least working toward my new goals actively. This production and decision stuff does carry with it a casualty or two, but the reorganization that is lining up will be worth it in the end, despite the bumps along the way.

So, the years of "should I or shouldn't I" are now behind me and my renewed self-confidence and accomplishment through decision is here and present in my future as well!

Exclusivity and Elitism - Where is the Line Drawn?

2011-03-03T20:45:00.000-08:00

Usually when I hear the word "exclusive" as a description of some type of special offer, group or opportunity, I view it as a good thing - like I'm possibly getting in on something really cool. The idea of going to an exclusive resort or having an exclusive deal for marketing a product seems great, but what about the flip side? A more common (and benign) example could be the Apple iPhone exclusive deal with AT&T. Many people didn't get one because they only had one choice for a carrier, but the company benefited because it gained millions of new customers because they wanted that phone. However, if you look at it now with Verizon on board, it seems like a better deal for people all around (unless you're AT&T).

Looking at the root word - exclude - gives another angle to the word though. The first definitions for exclusive listed in the Mirriam-Webster Online Dictionary are: 1a. excluding or having power to exclude b. limiting or limited to possession, control, or use by a single individual or group. 2a. excluding others from participation b. snobbishly aloof. This sounds more like elitism, where the same resource has this for its second definition: the selectivity of the elite; especially : snobbery <elitism in choosing new members>.

After looking at those it doesn't seem so inviting to me. There are definitely times and places in this world where exclusivity is much more harmful than good. I have been a part of cliques before that were exclusive, and I wound up losing connections to good people just because the group mentality taught me to think I was better than those other people in some way. It took me years to shake that idea, but I still see it being practiced to the detriment of otherwise good-intentioned people. I think trying to be inclusive is a much better approach. It is at the very least much more inviting doesn't automatically throw up walls or barriers.

While there are still some exclusive possessions I'd love to have, I wouldn't exclude my friends and family from enjoying them. These would include visiting my enormous home, driving my ridiculously expensive and fast cars and riding in my private jet. Not that I have any of those yet, but if you are a friend of mine, don't worry, because you'll get to share in those experiences too. The notion would apply to knowledge and other things as well. But next time someone tries to convince you that someone or something is less just because they're from a different place or believe something different, don't let their influence cause you to exclude others, and I'll try not to either.

Who We Really Are

2011-02-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Earlier tonight, as my wife was flipping through channels she stopped on Michael Jackson's This Is It. At first I didn't care to see it, but then I caught a glimpse of something I've never noticed before about him. I saw a man, an amazing artist, who truly wanted the best for others and used his music and dance as an extension of his love for all living things. I saw someone who really cared, and who enriched the lives of millions of people throughout his life.

While I admit to liking several of his songs, I've never considered myself a huge fan of his music. However, what I saw in those last 15 minutes of that movie has made me a fan of who he really was. It also made me think about what I do and who I really am.

Imagine if we all expressed our true selves, exposed for everyone to see. I think the world would be a much better place for people to live. I believe that many of us start out doing something with good intentions, but wind up just going through the motions on autopilot or moving along with the group, despite its direction, and lose ourselves in the process. For those of us who have done that, it is a very worthwhile investment of time to rediscover who we really are, and strive to live up to that.

A Song for Ella

2011-01-28T12:18:00.000-08:00

I wrote this over three years ago, a few months after Ella was born:

When I think of you all I do is smile
I'm comin' home, daydreamin' all the while
'Cause being away is tugging at my heart
All these miles between us are tearing me apart

I remember that day when you came into this world
There you were, a perfect little girl
Your mother and I - full of hope and nerves, oh boy
That's when I first had these wondrous tears of joy

I hear that thunder, and the cool spring rain
Bringing new life, and washing away the pain
It's all around us, like a gift from Him above
So innocent and pure - it's unconditional love
So many things remind me of that time
When I first saw that little girl of mine

And being away is tugging at my heart
All this miles between us are tearing me apart

I remember that day when you came into this world
And there you were, a perfect little girl
You're mother and I p full of hope and nerves, oh boy
That's when I first had these wondrous tears of joy

The last time I saw you was only two weeks ago
But each time I come home I see how much you've grown
I can't explain the feeling that's inside
Being your Daddy brings me so much pride
Your precious face, and the dimple in your cheek
Your big blue eyes watching me, the guidance that you seek

So many things to come, seeing you grow up
Walking and talking, and getting your first pup
Fifty years together doesn't seem like enough time
To spend my days with this little girl of mine
That's why I quit this long and lonely road today
To be close to you and watch you laugh and play

Cause being away was tugging at my heart
All those miles between us were tearing me apart

I remember that day when you came into this world
And there you were, a perfect little girl
Now here I am, to be with you and say
I'm so thankful for each and every day

Finding the Harmonies Among Dissonance

2010-12-31T22:46:00.000-08:00

As the New Year approached, like most people, I found myself looking at what I'd like to accomplish in 2011. After getting over the usual weight-loss thoughts and other self-improvements, I saw the common theme among all of my goals - finding the harmonies among the dissonance.

For me, it's a bit like listening for your child's voice in a room full of children - that instant recognition of what is familiar, and the comfort of what is native to you and your life. You KNOW.

Life can often be like trying to paddle upstream in a canoe or a kayak. If you're darting around or don't have a clear path then the current will slow you down or even stop you for a while, but if you have a clearly defined path and are heading straight toward it then each stroke becomes stronger and you glide upstream easily. The boat and paddle work together in harmony to cut through the current. However, the second you stop paddling because of some distraction or stray from your course, you lose ground.

It may take a few tries before you find your path, and sometimes you may even end up further downstream, but when you know what you're supposed to do and you do it despite the obstacles and barriers, your sense of self worth and accomplishment needs no praise. You have found the harmonies among the dissonance of the rushing waters trying to pull you in another direction. You have experienced this before. It is native to you. You KNOW.

To Know or Not Know

2010-11-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

I've looked at quite a few subjects lately, both on personal and societal scales, and found myself wondering just when is ingorance bliss and when is it, well, ignorant?
Choosing to take the red or blue capsule a la The Matrix is a choice we have with any subject, really, if we choose. But what if your life seems happier not knowing the full truth? Is it really happier or are you just living a lie?

For example, I love a good burger, steak, grilled chicken breast or a honey-glazed ham, but do I really want to see what goes on at slaughter houses? I mean, I have seen some pictures and have a pretty good idea, but is it necessary to get all the gory details, and if I did, would I still eat meat? Hell, I rarely go fishing because I hate putting the bait on the hook and then hate having to rip the hook out of the fish after they're caught, but I still love seafood.

What about our nation's obsession with prescription drugs - would people be better off knowing that the drug they've been convinced to take by some clueless doctor, slick salesperson or brilliant marketing scheme is doing less for them then what simple nutritional supplements would do? What about if the drug is actually making them worse? Beyond that, do they really want to know that many of the drug companies know their drugs are causing harm and set aside hundreds of millions to settle lawsuits so that they can still pocket billions of dollars over time, regardless of the human cost in terms of patient side effects including sending droves of people to seek drug rehabilitation help, or even death?

And how about your religion? What if yours really wasn't the only true way to the afterlife, however you believe it to be? What if what your religious texts promise you were nothing but contrived scenes to control masses, or offer uplifting hope for them? I don't think it's bad to believe in something if it's meant to help you live your life better and treat others well, but it would be nice to have a way of knowing the absolute truth about the texts and history without having to simply trust the authority who is handing it down to you, assuming it is unaltered.

In sports, do performance enhancing drug scandals make you question your favorite players? Would it matter to you if most of the athletes were using, or if the leagues changed rules to allow them? Would you stop watching games and competitions if news broke that a large percentage of the players were cheating?

Regarding your kids, would you want to know the details about their sex lives and whether or not they used drugs or engaged in some other type of harmful or illegal activities even if they were always home on time, kept a job, never got in trouble and excelled in their studies?

Finding the man behind the curtain like The Wizard of Oz can take the wind out of our sails, but in many more situations it can also remove the fear or mystery surrounding the situation.

I believe that the full truth should be made available for all to know, if they choose to know, but they have to be willing to accept and deal with the truth if it is shockingly different from what they thought previously.

There may be a time and a place for everything, and the level of details can vary. I don't think kids have to be traumatized with images of slaughter houses before they decide to have a chicken nugget. It's not entirely necessary for me to know the detailed history of the secretive Federal Reserve before I spend my money. However, children should understand how animals become food, people should understand the realities of our nation's financial strucutre and we all should get the truth about what we put into our body, about our governments and our religions.

Another Drug Company Seeks to Cash in on Addicts

2010-10-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the use of Vivitrol (injectable time-release Naltrexone) to treat opiate addiction. The drug was already in use for alcoholism and was promoted for off-label use with people addicted to drugs such as heroin and Oxycontin, but this latest moves opens up a few hundred thousand more potential patients for the drug's maker, charging roughly $1,000 per month and recommending up to 12 months or more for drug addiction treatment.

Not only is injecting a drug never the answer to curing addiction, but of course the addition of any new drug carries potentially heavy side effects. From the drug's own website, side effects are discussed:

"Naltrexone, the active ingredient in VIVITROL, can cause liver damage (including liver failure) or hepatitis if you take more than the recommended dose. Tell your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms: stomach area pain lasting more than a few days, dark urine, yellowing of the whites of your eyes or tiredness.

VIVITROL can cause other serious side effects such as depressed mood that sometimes can lead to suicide, suicidal thoughts and suicidal behavior. You should tell your family members and the people closest to you if you are taking VIVITROL. Call your doctor right away if you experience signs of depression."

This is just a continuation of the same game from pharmaceutical drugs and either damaging or blind policies from addiction treatment specialists, which is to cash in on the plight of others instead of offering a real solution. Sure, there may be minimal success with some clients, but it pales in comparison to long-term drug rehab centers that use a drug-free, responsibility-based approach. I recommend a non-12-step rehab that doesn't preach the disease theory or tell addicts they're powerless but instead focuses on self-empowerment and regaining control in life.

Lohan Ordered to Jail, Inpatient Rehab

2010-07-07T06:20:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has dealt with repeat offenders for substance abuse problems could hopefully see this day coming. Acress and party fixture Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail for her probation violation and ordered to complete an inpatient rehab program. She is allowed to turn herself in by July 20th, but must continue to wear an ankle bracelet for alcohol monitoring.

Maybe this time instead of going to some disease-based program that tells her it's not her fault they can find a facility that is responsibility-based, like many non-12 step drug rehabs, because that approach is more effective.

The "Uncle Buck" Plan for Addiction Treatment?

2010-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

If you've ever seen the classic movie "Uncle Buck" then you probably recall John Candy's character telling his sister-in-law about his quitting smoking. He says, "Hey I quit smoking cigarettes! Yeah, I'm on the 5 year plan. I started smoking cigars then it's on to pipes and then chewing tobacco," or something of the sort. If you're like me you laughed at how ridiculous that sounded.

So why doesn't it seem ridiculous to people when the same methodology is applied to addiction treatment?

Drug companies are continually trying to cash in on the misfortunes of those who have become addicted, and their multi-million dollar lobbying efforts have gov't officials in their pockets to promote drug replacement therapy for quitting addiction - like the 5 year plan.

The truth is that there are successful drug rehab centers out there to help people put addiction behind them forever, especially some very effective long-term non-12 step drug rehabs. Find out more by calling 1-877-372-5719.

Drug Makers to Stop Researching Antidepressants?

2010-05-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

As more truth is uncovered about the long-term side effects of antidepressants as well as the dangers that were hidden from the public in clinical trials, sales of name-brand antidpressants have steadily been falling. As a result, some prescription drug manufacturers have slowed or stopped research into developing any more drugs in this category.

For example, an article in The Wall Stree Journal from February of this year stated, "GlaxoSmithKline PLC said it will stop research into new antidepressants and focus on diseases for which it believes it can develop more valuable drugs, a major shift for a company that developed some of the biggest-selling antidepressants of the past 20 years."

This can be considered a pretty major victory for many patient advocacy groups, especially those who try and find non-drug alternatives to treating the symptoms of depression. The downside is that these companies have actually shifted their focus to promote antipsychotics for treating depression, and these drugs are more expensive as well as more damaging.

It would behoove drug rehabs to take heed and stop prescribing these drugs to treat addicts and the symptoms associated with addiction. Many non 12 step rehabs are already doing this today.

Two More Teens Die in Spring Break Accidents

2010-04-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

It seems to happen every year. Florida and other warm and sunny hot spots for Spring Break are filled full of college students followed by high school students in drunken parties that quickly spin out of control. What many feel are rites of passage are little more than irresponsible reasons for lewdness.

This year marked the unfortunate death of two teenage males who, in separate incidents, fell from hotel balconies in Panama City, FL.

Many years ago I went to spring break in Panama City two years in a row. One year I got punched by someone walking by looking for a fight and another year I got arrested for underage drinking. Even given those situations, I still consider myself lucky that something worse didn't happen given the formula for disaster that is a part of Spring Break.

For those teenagers and young adults who participate in such heavy drinking rituals, many of them, like I did, wind up developing more serious substance abuse issues. These may include more frequent binge drinking episodes that grow into heavy drinking and possibly alcoholism, or the experimentation with and eventual dependency on prescriptions and illicit drugs.

Either way, for people who find their loved ones in need of help, I strongly recommend contacting someone who knows the addiction treatment center landscape to help you make the right decision on finding the right drug rehab for your situation. You may try calling 1-877-421-9659 to speak with a counselor now.

Should Texas Rangers' Washington go to Rehab?

2010-03-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

The manager of the Texas Rangers, Ron Washington, recently made headlines for testing positive for cocaine use. Washington claimed it was around the All-Star break in 2009 and that it was an isolated incident. However, Major League Baseball has had a string of drug problems that is close to rivaling that of the NBA, and even overshadowing it when performance-enhancing drugs are included.

Drug testing policies in professional sports are by no means strict. The incidence of substance abuse among professional athletes is discouraging, and many athletes send a completely wrong message to young kids by doing so, as well as the teams.

Cocaine is a difficult drug to use just now and then. It is a very powerfully addictive drug and most cocaine users find themselves going on periodic or frequent binges due to the physical cravings for the drug. Should Washington fail another drug test then the Rangers and MLB should have no choice but to order him to complete a drug rehab in Texas before being allowed to return to work.

There are some drug rehabs that can effectively deal with the stored drug residues that typcially cause cravings for drugs like cocaine. The most successful type is a biophysical drug rehab. To learn more about drug rehabs that work, call to speak with a counselor today at 1-877-372-5719.

They're Not Helping You

2010-03-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

It is an all-too-common practice in today's healthcare industry for doctors to blindly prescrib drugs to people based only off information in trade magazines, or even worse only from the pharmaceutical reps and literature from the drug companies. The problem with this is that most doctors don't dig deep enough and go with the status quo instead of really finding out what whether or not what they are recommneding to you is safe for you to take.

Want examples?

Just look at the numbers of people put on antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-psychotics for even minor symptoms. What most doctors are being taught in medical school now is that if a patient doesn't feel good or if there is some problem, that there is usually something that should be prescribed to them. This is false and is only backed by greedy drug companies who have hidden clinical trial results, fraudulently pushed for off-label uses to boost sales and even knowingly caused the deaths of thousands of Americans for profit, when in many cases much more simple and more effective treatments could have been uses. Proper sleep, nutrition, exercise and a productive lifestyle go a long way to feeling good and staying healthy.

Another new movement is called the Green Mental Health movement. It is where experts find what are some of the underlying physical problems that cause mental symptoms, such as non-optimum glandular production, heavy metal and other toxicity, or treating people with amino acids and other natural supplements.

So, the next time you go do the doctor and he or she pulls out a prescription pad, ask them of they have done the research themselves, ask questions, study the drug's side effects online and see if there are any alternative solutions. The truth is that doctors who blindly hand out prescription drugs are not helping you and do not have your best interest in mind.

We see too many people wind up in drug rehab as a result of this careless activity.

Prescription Drug Abusers Often Get Pills From People They Know

2010-03-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

In an article posted in HealthDay News, researchers who surveyed 5,300 adults in Utah found that more than 85 percent of people who misused prescription opiate painkillers said friends or relatives gave them the drug willingly, while nearly 10 percent said they took the drug from friends or relatives without their knowledge. Only 4.1 percent of those surveyed said they had bought the drug.

More and more officials are encouraging people to discard their leftover prescription pills rather then letting them accumulate in the bathroom or kitchen. One recent movement is called Operation Medicine Cabinet, which works with law enforcement to get leftover prescriptions out of people's homes.

When abuse turns into addiction and dependency sets in, then the statistics usually change dramatically, where the pills are purchased through mulitple prescriptions and on the street illegally. Overall, more people are addicted to prescription drugs than cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine combined. This has also been verified by more drug rehabs claming to see larger enrollments for prescription addictions.

Celebrities and Alcohol

2010-02-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

One's identity is important to himself, and knowing yourself is one key to having certainty in life with relationships, at work, and anything else you might do.

A recurring trait with someone who doesn't really know who they are (or possibly does but doesn't like who they have become) is that they will turn to some form of substance to escape that lost or lonely feeling. In many cases this is alcohol - simply because it is more socially acceptable, and alcohol addiction is the number one substance abuse problem in America.

With celebrities, in particular actors, the trap of alcoholism is even more prevalent. Not only are there plenty of social outings that include a lot of alcohol, but actors' jobs are to assume other people's identities, rather than their own, and make us believe that they really are this other person.

We are reminded of the terrible mixture of these circumstances with actors and other celebrities wind up in the news for doing something dumb while under the influence of alcohol. Most recently it was Rip Torn, who was so drunk he broke into a bank, thinking it was his own home, and had a loaded weapon. Previously he had a few DUI's, but now he is potentially in very serious trouble and is going to attend a drug and alcohol rehab center. However, he had been to at least one treatment program prior to that, and if the right program for him would have been found then this current situation may have been avoided.

Other recent notable actors in the news for alcohol-related problems included Adrian Pasdar, Kiefer Sutherland, Mel Gibson and David Hasselhoff.

While some alcohol and drug rehab centers try and cater to celebrity clients, what is needed isn't just a swanky environment with a private chef (although that might not hurt), but a program that will truly help them get to the bottom of it and find the underlying reasons why they continue to drink (or use drugs) and find successful alternative solutions to those problems in life to prevent future relapses.

Regulating Marijuana in California?

2010-01-15T12:51:00.000-08:00

The California General Assembly's committee on public safety voted this week to approve a bill that would legalize marijuana for those adults 21 and over that would include government regulation and taxation. While it won't go to a full vote until much later and will likely not become a law, it begs the question "What are they thinking?!!".

At the forefront of the drug legalization agenda is the Drug Policy Alliance, which is a harm reduction group aimed at, apparently, making drugs more available to people to destroy their lives.

According to the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS), more than 16% of admissions to addiction treatment centers were for marijuana as the primary drug, accounting for more than 32,000 people going to California rehab centers.

So what is the real goal here, and what does that say of the elected officials on that committee? Would they want their sons and daughters to be able to buy weed at a store down the street so they can wind up not working, developing anxiety and becoming wholly unmotivated so they wind up on government aid? Of course not everyone who smokes pot winds up like that, but it does summarize the general characteristics of daily marijuana users.

Addiction Recovery Consultants

2009-12-10T11:49:00.001-08:00

The best thing I like about Google is creating a unique user experience. This is also true with people looking for addiction treatment centers, as no single location can be everything to everybody so the help must be individualized and Google exemplifies that.

in reference to: Google (view on Google Sidewiki)

The FDA Responsible for More US Deaths than Wars

2009-12-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

That's right, by approving unsafe drugs to not only be prescribed to people, but openly marketed to them, our nation's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is actually responsible for more deaths than our wars in foreign countries. It's illegal to pay radio stations to play an artists' songs but not for a pharmaceutical company to cover up evidence from clinical trials, pay off the FDA to look the other way, and then rake in billions through false advertising - all the while killing tens of thousands of Americans due to side effects from these drugs. This isn't just limited to painkillers like methadone or Oxycontin, but also antidepressants, benzodiazepines and atypical antipsychotics, to name just a few. Prescription drugs of many kinds are a major problem in America - more than most realize, often because they have justified their own prescription-taking by saying "my doctor recommended it," or something like that, without knowing that the drug companies have the doctors fooled, too, by paying other doctors and drug salespeople to say these drugs are safe.

Don't believe me? Do a few searches and see how many deaths are related to pharmaceuticals each year. Most of the evidence is fairly well hidden, but it's out there to be found.

Yet our nation's healthcare reform bills are seeking to subsidize this industry even more - which is essentially taking yours and my tax dollars to support pharmaceutical fraud and death because these companies earn billions and pay off the FDA. It's shameful and is actually a much bigger issue than the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, yet those issues were enough to elect a President whose agenda is to turn our country into socialism by rewarding people who don't work and punishing those who do - yet kill them both with drugs!

New Face of Recovery™ Denounces Medication-Assisted Treatment for Addicts

2009-12-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Advocacy group says putting drug abusers on more drugs is not a real solution for rehabilitation

Alcoholism and drug addiction are not new, but a few decades ago they were labeled as diseases, and now there are millions of Americans being prescribed drugs that have abuse potential, heavy mental and physical side effects and may even be fatal.

The scary, inbred connection with the pharmaceutical industry and doctors has led to the current disastrous epidemic of prescription drug addiction, with legal drugs killing more people in many states than illicit substances. Despite this undisputable evidence of carnage, the majority of doctors and addiction treatment programs continue to prescribe more drugs to addicts instead of helping them end the problem permanently.

One of the most common examples includes opioid replacement therapy for people who are addicted to drugs like heroin and oxycodone. These drugs often include buprenorphine or methadone, yet each are variations of synthetic opiates themselves and if taken over any substantial length of time require treatment just to get off them. There is also the fact that many states are seeing a significant rise in methadone and other opiate-related deaths.

Another commonly accepted practice includes an array of psychotropic drugs like anti-anxiety medication, antidepressants and atypical antipsychotics. However, sedatives such as benzodiazepines to cope with anxiety have an extremely high potential for abuse in themselves, antidepressants have been proven to cause erratic behavior and antipsychotics have been linked to causing diabetes, among other side effects.
“People seeking rehabilitation help for alcohol and other drug addictions are feeling lost and betrayed,” comments New Face of Recovery™ founding member Lucas A Catton, “They pay money to go to these treatment centers with the hope of getting better, but many of the end up worse because of the drugs they are given there.”

Catton says he has personally spoken with thousands of people throughout the country in recent years who share this sentiment and who are seeking a more effective form of rehabilitation program. This continuing pattern is what led to the formation of the New Face of Recovery as a patient advocacy group seeking to improve conditions in the addiction treatment field.

For more information about drug-free rehabilitation services visit The New Face of Recovery.
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Need for Drug Rehab Caused by OxyContin

2007-05-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

Millions of people have sought drug rehabilitation help for OxyContin® addiction over the last decade or so. As just one example of the dramatic increase in OxyContin abuse, the number of people who had misused the drug jumped from 1.9 million in 2003 to 3.1 million in 2004. That’s more than a 50% increase in 12 months!

While, for many years, the makers of OxyContin denied any liability in the high abuse and addiction rate in their drug, last week the Purdue Frederick Company, Inc. and several company executives plead guilty to misrepresentation of the drug through an “extensive, long-term scheme” to generate huge worldwide revenues from the drug.

In a release from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) it was reported that the company trained its representatives to make false representations to health care providers about the abuse potential of the drug. The drug is so addictive that it quickly developed a street market value, and a 40 mg pill costs approximately $4 by prescription, yet it may sell for $20 to $40 on the street, depending on the area of the country in which the drug is sold.

After millions of people becoming addicted and needed to go to drug and alcohol rehab because of OxyContin, it was only a matter of time before something was done.

Unfortunately, the result was only a fine of close to $700 million dollars, but no other criminal charges. But what about all of the addicts who died from OxyContin and subsequent drug abuse who did not get to go to an effective drug rehab? Where is Purdue’s responsibility in that?

Big Tobacco has had to pay out billions for knowingly defrauding the American public into thinking cigarettes weren’t as bad as they are, and they’ve had to set up special healthcare funds and education programs in every state as a part of the huge tobacco settlement worth billions.

Granted, the number of lives in question here surely isn’t as many, but OxyContin destroys a person’s body and life much faster than cigarettes. In your opinion, should more have been done? Should Purdue Frederick, Inc. have to pay money to set up a addiction treatment center fund for OxyContin addicts if they can prove the addiction came from a legitimate prescription?

Sick of seeing people get fooled

2007-04-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over a year now since I've been doing independent drug and alcohol rehab referrals. Through the years I've heard just about every horrible scenario you could think of, but I'll spare you the gruesome and sad details. There are also some very irritating stories about how people get fooled into thinking something is right when it isn't.

A recent example is when I was working with a mother trying to get her son into a drug rehab center that would actually help him, but he had been arrested and sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation because he was on methamphetamine. There he was held against his will, and the doctors ended up convincing the mother that her son needed to be on drugs (different ones, of course) to treat his symptoms. Here was someone who thought she was getting help and now has just signed her son's life away because he is dommed to be on dangerous drugs in the name of treatment. It's pitiful and disgusting that they can get away with this, and that our tax dollars pay for it! He would have been much better off in a biophysical drug rehab program.

New Series on Drug Abuse More Propaganda than Documentary

2007-03-19T05:46:00.000-07:00

Jointly-funded 'Addiction' pushes unproven brain disease theory, pharmaceuticals.

The much-hyped premiere of the new HBO 14-part documentary series called "Addiction" aired Thursday night, and what was disguised as a positive look into helping people understand and overcome alcohol and other drug addiction was actually a propaganda campaign to convince people that it is an incurable brain disease and should be treated with pharmaceuticals.

At times it was almost a question of who had funded the show, like when an opiate addict claimed there just wasn't enough money to continue paying for his opioid replacement drugs after treatment. Much of it almost looked like a direct lobby to Congress to mandate insurance coverage and to provide more appropriations to drug makers. You don't have to dig that deep to find the connection to pharmaceutical companies.

Probably the worst part about it is when some of the people in the addiction treatment field were interviewed, including the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), was the continued repetitive drone that addiction is a life-long disease and that relapse is expected. Such a statement is not only blatantly false, but it should be prosecutable as a crime against humanity. People permanently recover every single day with no further signs, symptoms or relapses - direct observable proof that it is not an incurable brain disease.

The best possible ploy they've come up with is to replace fact with conjecture when comparing the colors that appear brain scans. There is no basis for "this part of your brain is the 'go' part, and this part of the brain is the 'stop' part," especially when it is the mind, not the brain that makes those decisions. As mentioned in an earlier article from the Drug-Free Alliance, the brain is just the center of the nervous system, not that which controls our thoughts and decisions.

There are millions of people who are caught up in the trap of addiction and don't know how to get out. Telling them that they are diseased for the rest of there life provides no hope.

In a statement give to the Alliance for this review, Dr. Stanton Peele, author of "7 Tools to Beat Addiction" wrote, "Promulgating the idea of addiction as an inescapable disease is not a new or scientifically based idea. It is an old Harry Anslinger and Temperance tactic, and the NIDA, NIAAA, and their perhaps unwitting HBO filmmaking accomplices are serving up a moralistic, anti-drug menu. But what's worse is that the series eventually undercuts people's ability to overcome addiction and alcoholism - since a large majority of people do so on their own (think about smokers) - primarily addicts who reject the disease concept."

There is also the term "in recovery" that is used a lot, especially among traditional treatment groups and settings. This implies that they are still battling the addiction, for some decades later, one day at a time. Well, there are millions of people, as mentioned by Dr. Peele, that don't buy the brain disease theory who are now leading very healthy and happy lives free from drugs and alcohol and who never look back.

Most psychiatry-based treatment providers use "in recovery" to suggest that relapse is a part of the life-long addiction recovery process from the disease, meaning they expect the user to go in and out of treatment several times in life and fight the temptation to use drugs again for the rest of their life. This was suggested in the series as well, which continues to make me sick. Of course people will relapse if you tell them it's expected, it gives them an excuse to go out and get high again and it gives the provider an excuse to bill the insurance company again and the pharmaceutical companies again to create more drugs.

The aim here is not to upset those who have bought the lies over the years and believe them to be true. I say to them congratulations for doing well despite the false information you've been given. The intent is to get the masses to speak up and policy makers to not give in to this. Do not continue funding programs and ideas that only work ten percent of the time.

At the last national survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the majority of the country still believes that addiction can be overcome permanently. Where do you stand?

Drug-Free Alliance Speaks out Against Brain Disease Theory

2007-03-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

A new joint-venture national effort tries to convince people that addiction is a brain disease without providing solid proof.

According to Adherents.com, only about 16% of the world's population is non-religious. That means that somewhere in the neighborhood of 5.1 billion people believe in some sort of spirituality and separation from the body. Most people also believe there is a difference between the body, mind and spirit, that they act as one but they are not the same. This is not a lecture on spirituality though, it is proof that we're being railroaded and nobody is fighting against it.

A new joint venture between the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA*), Join Together and Faces and Voices for Recovery (FAVOR) has been heavily promoting a new HBO series called Addiction. Normally this would be a good thing, but they are pushing that addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease, and that the treatments for it often call for more drugs. Behind this push is a series of scientists at the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), which have also come out with a new publication trying to explain their addiction brain theory and pass it off as fact - a fact they cannot prove and which goes directly against the fundemental premise of nearly 85% of the world's population - we are not our brains, they are simply a part of us.

Withouth oversimplifying it, our brains are the control center for our central nervous system - it is a reactionary tool. Our minds are what we think and reason with - our consciousness. Aside from belief, more scientists have been researching the difference between the brain and the mind and one of the most prolific is Bruce Lipton, Ph.D, author of Biology of Belief.

In a section on his website entitled Mind Over Genes: The New Biology, Dr. Bruce Lipton writes, "This new perspective of human biology does not view the body as just a mechanical device, but rather incorporates the role of a mind and spirit. This breakthrough in biology is fundamental in all healing for it recognizes that when we change our perception or beliefs we send totally different messages to our cells and reprogram their expression. The new-biology reveals why people can have spontaneous remissions or recover from injuries deemed to be permanent disabilities."

This research is proof of why the Drug-Free Alliance is against calling addiction a brain disease and against drugging people to try and treat the symptoms of addiction. It is also more proof of why most of us know that we are not our bodies and with our minds we have the ability to overcome substance abuse and not get categorized as an incurable disease. There are countless examples of people who have fully recovered from addiction and have had no further treatment or symptoms.

What can you do about it? First of all, the organizations listed at the top are asking people to notify their congressmen about the HBO series and ask them to watch it. As a start, you can write your congressman and let them know that their constituents do not believe in the brain theory and do not want more money supporting such a ludicrous idea.

You can also write a letter to the editor in your local paper, to let them and fellow neighbors know about what is taking place with their tax dollars. Send us a copy of your letter so we can also post it on a special section on the Drug-Free Alliance website. If you have other ideas of how to combat this, let us know so we can also let others know too.

Thank you for your support!

Addiction Recovery Advocate Vows to Help Others

2006-10-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

A story of one individual's effort during National Recovery Month.

A little over seven years ago a young man was desperate and depressed; feelings that were brought on by his substance abuse. Not knowing how to change but not willing to give up on life, he reached out to his family for help and they found a successful long-term rehabilitation program.

Today things are vastly different for this still-young man after working for six years in the same field that helped him save his life. His name is Lucas A. Catton and he is now an intervention specialist and certified counselor working with a drug and alcohol rehab help line among many other things. He is also one of the recovery advocates featured in this year's National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month kits, which are available online at www.recoverymonth.gov.

He has had hundreds of articles printed in publications across the country and his book "Losing the Beer Goggles" is a social commentary on the addiction treatment field, which Catton says needs to undergo a serious change.

Earlier this year he started a non-profit organization called the Foundation for Social Improvement, whose goal is to acquire funds to give grants to community organizations that specialize in education as well as drug rehabilitation and prevention. He is also the spearhead of an initiative called the Drug-Free Alliance, which is an advocate of drug-free living and practices.

Mr. Catton's message of change doesn't often sit well with traditionalists in the addiction treatment field, for he lashes out at medication-assisted therapy and mind-altering drugs prescribed to people, especially addicts. "It doesn't make any sense at all to give a substance abuser another drug and call it treatment," he says, "Even the science behind it can't prove the theories or that they work."

As for what's next on his plate, Catton is in development for an independent feature film about drugs and the treatment field in an effort to entertain as well as share a message. He also plans on continuing to grow the Foundation and the international Alliance by adding new members and opening state and national chapters.

"People deserve to know the truth about things so they can make informed decisions. It's no different with the drug treatment and prevention field. People and institutions regarded as the authorities aren't necessarily right in their assertions, and as long as I'm around I'm going"

National Drug Use Survey Claims Mixed Results

2006-10-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

Despite a slight decline in percentage of teenage drug users, overall drug use actually in creased in the United States last year. September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, which is an annual observance sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) celebrating those who are able to overcome addiction.

Each year during Recovery Month SAMHSA also releases the results from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This past year shows mixed results, claiming an overall decline in illicit drug use among youth ages 12-17 over the past three years. The numbers slid from 11.6 percent in 2002 to 9.9 percent in 2005.

By initial glance this does seem like very good news, a 1.7 percent less kids using drugs. After all, a drop is a drop. The problem is that the population grew more than that, meaning there are actually more kids using drugs in total number than there were three years ago, as the annual growth is slightly less than one percent.

Add to that the fact that drug use among the baby boomer generation (ages 50-59) jumped from 2.7 percent in 2002 to 4.4 percent in 2005.

The story line continues for prescription drug abuse. Past-month non-medical use of prescription drugs has increased from 5.4 percent in 2002 to 6.3 percent in 2005 for the highest-risk age range of young adults, those ages 18-25. Narcotic painkillers are the drugs most abused in this category, which also includes sedatives and amphetamines.

"Our young people are getting mixed messages," comments Lucas A Catton, CCDC, director of the international Drug-Free Alliance, "They are led to believe that prescription drugs aren't as dangerous as street drugs and they are bombarded with advertisements through all forms of media."

The Drug-Free Alliance seeks to enlighten individuals, families and groups on the true dangers of drug use and to what extent drugs negatively impact our society. It promotes drug-free living and supports effective drug education and rehabilitation practices.

"People need to know that all drugs are toxic and have side effects," Catton continues, "There is a big difference between a medical emergency requiring a drug and thinking prescriptions drugs are safe because they're legal."

The statement is supported by a figure posted on a website devoted to sharing independent news about natural health and medicine called Newstarget.com. A figure is posted on the index page stating that more than 530,000 Americans have been killed by FDA-approved pharmaceuticals since 9/11.

For more information about visit the Drug-Free Alliance.

New Resources for Drug Rehab and Treatment

2006-10-05T12:26:00.000-07:00

I've been more active in helping people find answers to drug rehab questions lately and have also been working more on developing websites to find addiction treatment centers. There is so much information on the web about drug rehab centers that we have decided to help people decipher the language and find programs that best suit their situation.

It has definitely been a worthwhile endeavor, as we've already helped hundreds of individuals and families around the country find treatment centers and it has also continued to be an eye opener for me to see just how much lack of help and false information there is out there.

Drug Education or Educating Druggies?

2006-04-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

The Drug-Free Alliance exposes a program with heavy ties to pro-drug movements and tries to redefine drug education by making drug use ‘safer’

It is a well-known fact that drug use has a major negative impact on our society. Statistics and simple observation has proven this over time. It destroys families, increases crime, ruins health and reduces productivity.

The Safety First program promotes itself as a common sense approach to drug education. Operating under the premise that most kids will try drugs, they try to promote using drugs and alcohol safely, if there is such a thing. This is a common theme in many harm reduction activities – they often give up on outright prevention and effective treatment and instead try and minimize the harm associated with substance abuse through other measures.

A quote from the Safety First program’s website says, “We must deal with drugs as we deal with other potentially harmful activities, like driving and sex.”

Potentially harmful? Drugs are definitely harmful to a person’s mind and body, and even in smaller amounts or when used to treat other symptoms they all still have side effects and are toxic to a degree. You cannot put driving and sex in the same category as drug use. Teaching safe driving and safe sex may prevent accidents, unwanted pregnancies, the spread of disease and even death, but teaching “safe” drug use only prolongs the outcomes and never prevents all the damage created by the substances.

The program even tries to blunt parent intervention on drug-using teens; saying not to panic if they find out their child is using alcohol or drugs, and that they probably will grow out of it. Safety First also speaks very loudly against student drug testing of any kind, even if incorporated as an addition to an effective drug prevention program.

The Safety First program is connected to other pro-drug organizations through the Drug Policy Alliance. These organizations include Dance Safe, which promotes the use of ecstasy, and the National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which advocates the legalization of marijuana.

“How can a group that presents itself as trying to help kids with drug education have such close ties to groups that promote drug use?” asks Lucas A Catton, President of the Foundation for Social Improvement, whose Drug-Free Alliance is in support of real drug prevention and drug-free rehabilitation.

“School systems and parents cannot allow this sort of blatant approval of drugs to be taught to their students and need to look closer at what the intentions are of the people providing drug education. In this case, it’s not to keep kids off drugs, but instead make them educated druggies,” Mr. Catton added.

The Drug-Free Alliance continues to gather members in support of safer and healthier communities through drug-free living. To find out more about the Drug-Free Alliance or to find workable drug education programs, log on to http://www.drug-freealliance.org/.

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Experts Clash over Narcotic Painkillers

2006-03-31T05:49:00.000-08:00

The Drug-Free Alliance sides with the DEA on restricting access to pain medication due to the millions of people abusing the prescription drugs, despite protest from pain doctors.

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the drug category with the largest number of new users in the previous year was non medical use of pain relievers (2.4 million new users), which was more than marijuana or cocaine.

In the face of these statistics, several doctors in the American Academy of Pain Medicine are complaining that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is ignoring the needs of pain specialists and their patients to have less restricted access to the drugs.

A pain doctor who previously had worked to collaborate with the Administration on the issue wrote one of several commentaries in the February 2006 issue of the journal Pain Medicine, which is published by the Academy. The argument claimed that prescription drug abuse can be curbed without the undermining of pain patients to serve society’s interests, yet some type of Legislative intervention appears necessary given the steady increase in availability and abuse of prescription narcotics. Headed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), more states are implementing prescription drug monitoring programs.

The annual Monitoring the Future survey found that the use of prescription painkillers steadily increased from 1992 to 2002 and there has been little change since then. Specifically noted was a 40 percent increase in the abuse of Oxycontin among 12th-graders from 2002 to 2005. One of the lead researchers in the study exclaimed that this is one of the few classes of drugs in which there has not been improvement after the rise in non-medical use.

While these figures don’t necessarily include pain management cases, the number of overall prescriptions for narcotic painkillers have increased by nearly 500% in the past decade, according to an article by USA Today. In addition, due to the powerfully addictive qualities of these drugs, some patients legitimately prescribed the medications end up abusing them and becoming addicted.

“I have spoken with many individuals and family members around the country over the years who are trying to deal with prescription drug addiction that started with some type of accident or injury,” claims Lucas A Catton, President of the Foundation for Social Improvement.

As a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor, Catton recognizes the need for a serious societal shift regarding the overabundance of prescription drugs in America, which is why the Foundation started the Drug-Free Alliance initiative to promote drug-free living.

“Yes, there are extreme cases where patients justifiably need strong relief from their pain,” concedes Lucas, “but someone has to take responsibility for the millions of people that are hooked on these drugs, which is an epidemic that is much more real that the bird flu – it’s happening now.”

The Drug-Free Alliance encourages patients to become more educated on non-traditional methods of dealing with pain and exploring all options of alternative therapy and specialists, implying that the use of addictive drugs should be a last resort.

In the past decade, strong evidence has been accumulated regarding the benefits of mind-body therapies, acupuncture, and some nutritional supplements for treating pain, according to an article posted on WebMD. Other alternative therapies such as massage, chiropractic therapies, therapeutic touch, certain herbal therapies, and dietary approaches have the potential to alleviate pain in some cases as well.

For more information on prescription drug abuse trends or to find resources supporting drug-free living, visit the Drug-Free Alliance website at http://www.drug-freealliance.org/.

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Announcing the Drug-Free Alliance

2006-02-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

A non-profit foundation starts grassroots effort to support drug-free living

The fight against alcohol and drug addiction has taken on a much different meaning in recent years with the onslaught of prescription drug abuse in America. Never has it been more important to educate people in our society about the dangers of all drugs as it is now, when there are more than 23 million people in need of treatment and 15 million taking prescription drugs non-medically.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, the legal drug makers employed over 1,200 lobbyists in the U.S. and spent more than $120 million on lobbying efforts to pass their agendas in 2004. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most lucrative in the world, and the largest drug company profited just over $11 billion that same year.

The Drug-Free Alliance is an initiative of the Foundation for Social Improvement and is a grassroots movement designed to raise awareness of the harmful substances in our communities, both legal and illicit. The organization supports drug-free living through education and prevention along with drug-free policy and rehabilitation.

Drug prevention activities must work to provide young people with enough information to make the right choice to lead successful, drug-free lives, not try to teach them to use drugs ‘safely’ or in moderation. Substance abuse is one of the major downfalls of our world and is an underlying factor in many other social problems.

When it comes to rehabilitation, subjective diagnoses and the push from heavily-lobbied companies have perverted the addiction treatment field to the point where most programs try and put addicts on more drugs in an attempt to treat their symptoms. These drugs include such dangerous toxins as anti-psychotics, antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications, all of which carry devastating side effects and have no proof of helping long-term recovery.

Drug-free policy indicates supporting groups that are effective in reducing drug use and improving the quality of life for individuals, families and communities, not promoting new drugs to put them on. Drug-free rehabilitation with long-term drug rehab success should be the ultimate goal, or we will simply continue trying to find a new patch for the new symptoms that were created by other failed attempts.

Everyday people can do their part by becoming more educated about the drugs that are being pushed on them every time they turn on the television or read a magazine. Take a stand against substance abuse by being responsible consumers and ask questions of drugs being prescribed.

You can also join the Drug-Free Alliance and help create drug-free communities by being responsible for others in your life too. For more information, drug education resources and even help for addicted individuals, visit http://www.drug-freealliance.org/.

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Drug Policy

2005-11-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

An interesting thing about the drug policy in America - it's set up so that most people fail and only continue arguing about it. Why is this? Because the money generated from drug abuse, the drug trade, addiction treatment centers, the pharmaceutical companies and healthcare organizations is too great for them to actually lose it. In other words - these people don't want to end the drug war - they need it to continue to justify their existence! Sad, but true.

Skepticism at its worst

2005-09-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

I got a call today from a reporter regarding my letter to editors about effective drug education curriculums missing from America's schools.

Having been uninformed, she wondered why I would send out something to media pulications asking for more money to keep our kids off drugs. I reiterated that we're spending more money on research than actual prevention programs. She then asked me why I would send something out asking for more money in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and if I thought my issue was more important than that. I of course said that when there is a national tragedy then that is what needs the attention, but it doesn't mean we should forget the fact that we have tens of millions of kids and adults slowly dying from substance abuse. Then her next skeptical question was wanting to know what Narconon was doing for the problem, and I started listing off all of the different successful activities that they are involved and, and I think that finally quieted her.

How could someone take a simple proactive statement that criticized federal spending and try and spin it against us? I hope the message that got through was that we do care, we do help, and that it's not okay for people to suffer when there are effective solutions available to help individuals and communities.

Effective Drug Education Missing from Schools’ Curriculum

2005-09-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

Drug prevention must be taught every year to make a lasting impact on substance abuse

The Monitoring the Future annual survey reports that overall drug use among teenagers has continued to slowly decline over the last several years, yet more than half of high school seniors tried an illicit drug in 2004. The number of users increases from 22 percent in 8th grade to 40 percent in 10th and on to 51 percent in 12th grade.

The availability and types of drugs seem to be getting more widespread. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University announced last month that the number of students who attend schools where drugs are kept, sold or used has increased 47 percent for middle schools and 41 percent for high schools since 2002. Earlier this year CASA also released the results of a survey showing that prescription drug use among teens has skyrocketed recently and has become one of the fastest-rising categories of substance abuse.

Federal budget recommendations show that the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Demand Reduction program are both at risk of losing funding. A handful of national programs will still receive several hundred million dollars for activities such as school-based drug testing, anti-drug media campaigns, community coalitions and other prevention programs, and all of these can help to some degree but are not nearly enough on their own. Meanwhile, over $1 billion is being spent on studying and observing the drug problem rather than actively reducing it.

In a CASA release on the 18th of August, the center’s president Joseph A. Califano, Jr. said, “It’s time for parents to shout ‘We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this any more’ and for education officials in Washington and the states, cities and counties to mount the same campaign to get drugs out of our schools as they are mounting to increase test scores.”

The harm reduction movements have made their way into some school systems with a “safety first” approach, saying that drugs will always be a part of our culture so let’s teach our kids how to use them in moderation. That’s also the message being sent to kids when they see numerous advertisements for the newest prescription drug. It’s no wonder why more than 15 million Americans are abusing these substances. If we don’t take a stand against these activities, who will?

How can someone say that consuming alcohol, one of the deadliest drugs, is okay for a developing body and mind? Who would allow their teenage daughter to take ecstasy, which has been proven to cause physical and mental damage?

Abstaining from drug use is still the best policy, and communicating to our nation’s youth about the true dangers of drug use is the first place to start. We must provide drug prevention curriculums for every year of school for our children and we must initiate environmental change in our homes and our communities.

We cannot throw the future of our civilization down the drain by allowing kids to get hooked on drugs. To Mr. Califano my reply is, “I may not be a parent yet, but I am mad as hell and I’m definitely not sitting back and taking it.”

Respectfully,

Lucas A Catton, CCDC
Narconon Arrowhead
Author - "Losing the Beer Goggles: And Seeing the Truth for the First Time"

[Narconon Arrowhead is one of the nation’s largest and most effective drug rehabilitation and education programs. The program credits its success to the dedication of its staff and the application of L. Ron Hubbard’s drug-free methodology. It works tirelessly to educate millions of people around the world each year through in-class presentations, informational hotlines and websites and anti-drug messages in the media. For more information about Narconon Arrowhead call 1-800-468-6933 or visit www.stopaddiction.com.]

Lack of Results in Alcoholism Redovery Blamed on Disorder

2005-08-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

An article hit the news the other day that was written by WebMD claiming that a study was conducted showing that the reason for failure in alcoholism treatment is because of the high percentage of alcoholics who have anxiety disorders. Now, as a former alcholic myself, I know that alcohol abuse itself causes anxiety, especially in the longer-term withdrawal stages.

This study followed 82 participants and only 29 completed - which is actually only a 35% retention rate. Of the 29 left, they claimed half had an anxiety disorder, which was why they relapsed. The study goes on to advocate the use of medication to handle the disorder, but these medications have their own abuse potential and side effects as well and are by no means a permanent solution to treating alcoholism. Oh yeah, they also fail to mention that the WebMD main corporation Emdeon has a board of directors with heavy ties to pharmaceutical companies and financial institutions. There are also the glaring advertisements for drugs such as antidepressants plastered throughout the site.

There are drug-free programs that have proven that effective rehabilitation program is much more successful and one component is to have addicts take responsibility for their condition as opposed to blaming it on some disorder.

The fact is that people can fully recovery from alcohol and drug addiction, and I am just one example.

Substance Abuse in the Workplace

2005-08-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

Workplace substance abuse costs Americans well over 100 million dollars annually. From lost productivity and accidents to increased healthcare costs and mistakes on the job.

I recently spoke with a writer from a business journal who was doing a report on prescription drug abuse in the workplace. A well-known insurance company had issued a memo to companies to start testing their employees for prescription drug abuse. Since prescription drug abuse is the fastest rising category of substance abuse in America it is a timely topic. The problem is that many Employee Assistance Programs don't know that addiction can be fully overcome and often times counselors feel that drugs can actually increase performance at work if taken as prescribed for certain problems. The missing information in this case is that these drugs only cover up and treat the symptoms of the real problems and don't actually solve what's wrong. In addition, the drugs themselves either have abuse potential or have a laundry list of side effects.

I explained to the writer that we have seen an increase of people coming through our treatment program that got hooked on prescription drugs that were at first legally prescribed to them, many of whom went on to use illicit drugs as well. The overall goal of rehabilitation is to restore the individual to his or her former capacity, the way they were without any drugs, and that treatment had veered its course and gone into drug substitution mode. Despite the ineffective trends in mainstream substance abuse treatment, nobody can ignore the hard facts as evidenced by the recent study out of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse out of Columbia University that showed we know have over 15 million people abusing prescription drugs in the U.S.

Addiction Treatment Admissions Trends

2005-07-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

A new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) showed that addiction treatment admissions for methamphetamine and prescription painkillers increased substantially from 2002 to 2003.

Primary methamphetamine treatment admissions rose ten percent from 105,000 to more than 116,000. Narcotic pain medication treatment admissions rose twelve percent from 43,000 to over 48,000.

This should come as no surprise given the scourge of meth abuse throughout the nation over the last decade, and the recent study contucted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) out of Columbia University showing that 15.1 million Americans have abused prescription drugs in the past month.

It's pretty frustrating that it takes epidemics for our nation to focus on particular drugs of abuse.

The Psychiatric Invasion of Addiction Treatment

2005-07-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Addiction book author offers support and evidence to back up Tom Cruise’s statements about psychiatric drugs

The connection between psychiatry and drugs is not new. In fact, many psychiatric diagnoses call for drugs as part of their treatment protocol.

The latest trend in drug addiction diagnosis and treatment deals with co-occurring disorders, meaning an individual is said to have a substance abuse disorder and one or more mental disorders. These disorders can be located in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM IV) and are considered to be brain diseases.

An interesting point about the DSM is that new disorders are supposedly discovered and subsequently labeled as time goes by when they’re voted in by members of the American Psychiatric Association – yes, voted in as a matter of opinion.

For decades now certain groups have been trying to pin a label on addiction as well, saying that it is a family disease passed on through genes causing a neurological disorder. Today, that research continues after hundreds of millions of dollars have failed to prove the theory, which is largely backed by the fields of pharmacology and psychiatry that continue to reap the financial rewards from government contracts and drug sales regardless of results.

In announcements for new funding opportunities for research recently, the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) says that "Scientists believe the disorders arise from multiple genes exerting small effects, gene-by-gene interactions, gene-by-environment interactions, and a host of environmental factors and risk behaviors. However, there has been limited success in reliably identifying specific susceptibility genes for drug abuse.”

This is merely a continuation of a pattern of unproven theories designed to make drug addiction into some complex disease that justifies the inadequacies of mainstream addiction treatment. The result equals more drugs being pushed by psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies onto our society to make billions of dollars, which is all a hoax. Don’t believe it? All you have to do is look for yourself and you’ll see the fraud that is being committed.

According to author and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor Lucas Aaron Catton, “The fact is that if you read any of the studies regarding addiction as a disease or some chemical imbalance, the findings always use words like ‘may’ or ‘suggest’, but never conclusively prove anything. It is a scam pulling the wool over the eyes of Americans that continues to subdue society under an array of drugs. The results include rising healthcare and insurance costs while lowering the overall health and awareness of the individuals taking the drugs.”

Catton, whose book “Losing the Beer Goggles: And Seeing the Truth for the First Time” offers real solutions to the world’s drug problem, says that people who enter treatment for substance abuse are typically harder to help if they’ve been on psychiatric drugs for any significant length of time.

“These people have been told that they have a disease and it’s much more difficult for them to take responsibility for their condition. The drugs they’ve been given under the guise of help have cut their ability to perceive and reason. I applaud Mr. Cruise for speaking the truth, even if people aren’t ready to accept that truth yet.”

###

“Losing the Beer Goggles” is available through many on line bookstore outlets and retailers.

Have a Safe Holiday

2005-06-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

Our nation's Independence Day celebration is upon us once again. It's a great time of the year and it can be fun as well as relaxing.

A little-known fact about the Fourth of July, however, is that there are most alcohol-related traffic fatalities on this day in history than several New Year's Eves combined. The problem is that people attending parties become a little too relaxed and consume too much alcohol. Then, with altered perceptions, get behind the wheel of a car and irresponsibly put others at risk. This behavior was responsible for 55% of all traffic fatalities on this day in 2003, totalling more than 280 deaths.

It's up to all of us to take responsibility for ourselves and our neighbors and not let people drink and drive. Nobody wants to attend a funeral on July 6th.

If you have a loved one in need of help for alcohol or other drug abuse, contact us today to find drug rehab centers by calling 1-877-372-5719.

Marijuana Decision

2005-06-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the most difficult arguments to have with people are on the subject of marijuana. There have been ten states that have approved marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the Supreme Court recently ruled that the Federal Law prohibiting the possession, sale or use of marijuana overrides state laws. This is very supportive when it comes to talking to young kids about drugs, because like it or not marijuana is a harmful drug that does have immediate and long-term negative effects. A simple look at the increase of marijuana treatment admissions proves that.

At Narconon Arrowhead, our main goal is the total eradication of substance abuse, whether it's over the counter medication, prescription drugs, alcohol, or illicit substances such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy or methamphetamine. People are much happier and more productive when they're not under the effects of drugs and other toxins. I can certainly attest to that.

Evolution of Addiction Treatment

2005-06-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

I've had quite an interesting few weeks, more so than usual. I can honestly say that I don't think I've ever had more things going on or up in the air at once as I do now - and all of it is really good. I've some people whom I admire, ther are people that I've wanted to help for a long time finally getting help, I've had people ask me for help in different areas and my general attitude toward life has been even more enthusiastic. I'm even working on some other projects that I'm really excited about, such as getting more people to read the book I wrote as well as the screenplay.

I really am sick and tired of seeing people dying because of drugs - or getting caught in a lie thinking that some drugs are going to be good for them. I am very fortunate to have found Narconon and to be part of this incredible group who is leading the charge in addiction treatment reform.

Stepping into Tomorrow

2005-06-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

As my personal experience, knowledge, growth and purpose continue I find myself wanting to help more people on a broader scale. While various forms of media have been successful as a public service and awareness campaign through Narconon, I have decided to communicate to large audiences truth about drugs and addiction and have written a screenplay.

Communication through the art of film and theater has spawned some pretty amazing cultural movements throughout the years, and "Stepping into Tomorrow" is geared to do the same regarding attitudes and perceptions about drugs, addiction treatment and rehabilitation to bring about positive reform.

This is a next evolution for me and my quest to help people bring about an understanding on how to solve problems that we as a society are now facing.

A True American Idol

2005-05-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I was thinking about the one living person that inspires me the most. We have the show American Idol and many of us look up to different celebrities as idols, but for me, and idol should do more than just act or sing well, he should give back and help others.

Tom Cruise is a true American Idol. Despite the criticism he has endured, this man continues to stand up for his personal beliefs and truly conveys that he wants to help. So what if his views on drugs are controversial - it's actually becoming more and more common today for people to be against antidepressants and against ADHD drugs. Prescription drugs are ruining society, and I wanted to thank Mr. Cruise for openly stating this.

Twisted Media

2005-05-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

Have you ever stopped to think about mass media and what it has become in America? The vast majority of news stories on TV and in newspapers have death, violence, controversey, big names, sex, etc., etc., etc. Aside from any differences anyone may have with Michael Moore, he makes an excellent point in "Bowling for Columbine", his famous documentary. He talks about the media in America and how it's geared toward creating fear the hearts and minds of our citizens.

There is a great newspaper chain in London called the Local Independend who has recently adopted a policy of only spreading good news. What a great idea. A couple of years ago I was thinking of this for a TV channel, like an upbeat and positive version of CNN, and I will do it some day. I have started The Better News Network website in the meantime, that is a channel for user-based positive news.

I have dealt with many traditional media outlets and reporters in the past. One specific reporter questioned me about a statement released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, saying that early marijuana use can lead to serious mental illness, like depression and schizophrenia, etc. Well, I simply said that the diagnoses themselves were in question but the symptoms were definitely present and that depression and anxiety are common side effects of taking drugs, especially when it's a developing mind and body under the age of 12. I also very clearly said that I have a tremendous amount of respect for John Walters (Drug Czar) and the current Administration's success in reducing the demand for drugs (teen use is down by 17%) and I wanted to make sure the reporter understood that. She said she did. Well, guess what happened? A week later I see my name under the headline and it says, "Luke Catton....disagrees with the White House....."

I couldn't believe it! I very clearly stated that was not the case. It was irritating and pathetic at the same time.

I guess the only way to get your message across is to write it yourself or appear live so it is uncut.

Addiction a Never Ending Story?

2005-05-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I was out to eat dinner with a co-worker, and we had just delivered some drug prevention presentations at a nearby school earlier that afternoon. Our server asked us what we did for a living and we told her that we work to keep kids from using drugs. Her reply was, "Aww, I bet it's tough to know that you really can't keep them from doing drugs."

We couldn't believe it! It makes me wonder how many people think that drugs are always going to be part of our culture and, if that's the thought, how many people think it's okay for kids to try drugs - which turns into 23 million people addicted to drugs.

Even worse, there are some organizations, including one in San Francisco that is opposed to drug prevention, who think that drug education means teaching kids how to do drugs safely. Now that's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. Doing drugs safely. These people think that it's better to accept drug abuse and deal with it than to try and prevent it. How defeatist! Let's just all give up! (sarcasm)

Ptoey! That's crap!

I take great pride in knowing that I work with some of the most dedicated people on earth who are working toward a drug-free society, and truly know that it can be done. Successful drug rehabs, relapse prevention and education can accomplish this when applied correctly.

Delivering Messages about Drugs and Addiction

2005-05-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

Last week we had over 1,000 people contact us from all over the world looking for information about drugs and addiction as well as seeking to get help for loved ones in need of effective drug rehabilitation.

I personally fielded calls and e-mails from high school and college students writing reports on drug abuse, a member of a Governor's Crime Commission in the south, newspapers, television stations, other treatment professionals and teachers wanting drug education for their students.

Our messages are literally getting out to hundreds of thousands of people each week in the United States alone due to all of the help we offer through media outlets and word of mouth.

If you have a question or know someone in need of help for drug abuse, contact us today by calling 1-877-372-5729 or find a drug rehab center here.

Prescription Drug Use

2005-04-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

There was a great story on the Today Show on Thursday. It was about a study released by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and they called it "Generation Rx".

The whole point was it was cautioning people about how more and more young people are turning to prescription and over-the-counter drugs to abuse and get high. Narconon Arrowhead has been trying to warn people of this for years, since all drugs are essentially poisons and the amount taken determines the effect. In addition, all drugs have side effects, which in many cases outweighs any supposed benefits of taking them. There are too many natural alternatives that individuals can use to help them, but the marketing of the legal drug industry runs into the billions of dollars each year, and so does their profit.

This is just one more reason why the Narconon Arrowhead Drug Rehabilitation and Education program is the best rehab center in the world and why our drug prevention team continues to do such good work.

The irony of it all

2005-04-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

You know, there comes a point in time when things cease to amaze me. I see many ironic situations on a daily basis that no longer surprise me. Instead, some of these things become expected.

Working in the addiction treatment and prevention field with Narconon Arrowhead and seeking to bring about reform has opened the doors for me to many new things throughout the years, and one irony that I now take for granted is the number of former drug addicts, some even drug dealers and criminals, who have completely reformed and are now helping people get off drugs.

With that situation sitting somewhere near the top, there are countless other examples on down from there.

One example that irritates me is when an individual, a community or a nation gets to a point where they are fed up with their current condition, especially regarding drug use, but aren't willing to change anything to correct the condition. All this ends up with is a worse condition, and the ideas they held on to as being the most important often end up contributing to the damage. If you ask me, that's pretty ironic.

Narconon Arrowhead Receives Certification from Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

2005-04-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

State officials recognize and welcome successful drug-free rehabilitation approach

CANADIAN, Okla. - The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) awarded full certification to Narconon of Oklahoma, Inc. (dba) Narconon Arrowhead’s drug free withdrawal program after department inspectors verified the center was in 100% compliance with the criteria required by the state for non-medical detoxification.

The Department’s recommendation for full certification was sanctioned by a unanimous vote by the Oklahoma Board of Mental Health at their monthly meeting held at Department headquarters in Oklahoma City on the 11th of March. Full certification is valid for three years, which is the most allowed under the Department’s regulations.

Narconon Arrowhead CEO, Gary W. Smith said, “My center’s goal has always been to meet or exceed state and federal treatment standards because the individuals that we help are the ones that benefit from a higher quality care in the end. I think it’s a new era for the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and treatment providers in the state. We have known for some time that substance abuse is one of the key factors that are driving up prison and health care costs and more treatment services are needed, not less. State regulations seem to be moving more towards inclusion of alternative types of effective rehabilitation methods and programs rather then being exclusive to what has been considered traditional treatment methods.”

In addition to ODMHSAS certification Narconon’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation program is accredited by the nationally recognized and prestigious Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission (CARF) since the center was first licensed in Oklahoma in 1991. The organization has helped thousands of people recover from drug addiction since that time and has helped prevent drug use through education to hundreds of thousands across the country through the application of American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard’s effective drug-free rehabilitation methodology.

Adds Smith, “I am impressed with the cooperative spirit that exists today with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and treatment providers in the state of Oklahoma. I know this is due, in now small part, to the Department leadership and support in making more treatment services available by the Governor’s office.”

Narconon Arrowhead is one of the largest private residential treatment centers in the United States. The center services between 200 and 230 people in need at a time and program participants range from 18 to over 60 years of age and come from all walks of life all over the country as well as overseas. It is also the main training center for Narconon’s international network of drug rehabilitation and education programs that now reaches 40 countries.

Drug Education

2005-03-30T17:28:00.000-08:00

It's been about three and a half years since the last time I spoke to a large group of kids, but the other day I had the opportunity to spend some time with nearly 400 6th, 7th and 8th-grade students. It was quite an experience and the kids were great. They had tons of questions and it was really good to be able to relay vital information to them about the truth about what drugs do to a person's mind and body.

I started my career with the Narconon Drug Rehabilitation and Education program doing drug prevention presentations, and it's interesting how things come around full circle every once in a while.

I will also be talking to another 1200 or so students in the next few weeks, and I'm really proud to be able to help prevent kids from getting into the situation that currently faces 23 million Americans - drug addiction.

More on Marijuana

2005-03-26T05:41:00.000-08:00

So, I sent out an article last week about marijuana, and every single time that we do some pro-pot people call or e-mail us and complain that we don't know what we're talking about and that it's really not all that bad. I think it's funny, actually, because the same thing happened when we wrote something about a specific prescription drug - people that make money off it didn't like to hear someone trying to speak out against a chemical with harmful side effects.

Anyway, this guy called one of my co-workers the other night and tried to give him the third degree, but he deferred the caller to me. I ended up talking with him yesterday and he was trying to punch holes in some of the statements made in the article on marijuana. He was very upset that we were trying to keep kids from smoking weed by presenting factual information instead of only controversey.

A couple of months ago I did a state-wide public radio interview for an hour and some callers were touting how they smoked pot and didn't think it was addictive, etc. For a statement on that, check out my previous posting.

Here's the deal. Drugs will damage your mind and body, regardless of what supposed benefits may be promoted by their sellers. Thankfully there are organizations working to eradicate substance abuse, such as the Narconon Arrowhead Drug Rehabilitation and Education Program. For some other useful information and resoucres, check out Addiction Treatment Books.

Marijuana Treatment Reform Laws

2005-03-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

One of the funniest things I've ever heard a a drug user say is, "Marijuana is not addictive. I smoke it every day and I'm not addicted."

This doesn't make any sense. If someone drank alcohol every day would they consider to be addicted? Yes. If someone snorted meth every day would they be considered addicted? Yes.

Marijuana advocacy groups have been in existence for quite some time, and most of them try to get marijuana legalized or at least decriminalized, but do so under the guise of legalizing it for specialized medical conditions such as easing the pain of a terminally ill cancer patient, or something of the sort.

The fact is marijuana is harmful and it does have addictive qualities. The only argument that could even be made is the degree of harmfulness, and even that is relative due to the varying strengths of THC content in today's pot.

For more information about this argument and some interesting facts on marijuana emergency room visits and treatment admissions, see the article posted at the Narconon News blog or check out Narconon Arrowhead's marijuana addiction website.

Early Intervention in Addiction Treatment

2005-03-16T11:50:00.000-08:00

One of the great things about Narconon Drug Education is that we have an opportunity to work with young people and conduct what are known as early interventions. That is where a kid has tried using drugs a few times, but hasn't developed an addiction as of yet. Through effective education we can provide these kids with the truth about drugs and addiction and help them to make better choices in the future in order to stay away from alcohol and drug abuse.

We got a call from a television show looking to help do an early drug intervention on a young person and it's a great opportunity to help as well as get the information out to more of the general public on how to help others.

Questioning Motives

2005-03-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

You know, I have to question the motive of people who oppose helping others become free from addiction to alcohol or other drugs. I would think that most people would question it, but sometimes they get caught up in only what's being told to them instead of looking and seeing the truth for themselves. That's what happens when someone has a negative opinion of the Narconon Drug Rehabilitation and Education Program. Either they have been misinformed and haven't bothered to look for themselves or they have some benefit of keeping people on drugs.

It's really as simple as that. Would you attack a chiropractor or message therapist for working to rid someone of their pain without giving them drugs, of course not. Then why would someone attack a program that actually works instead of putting addicts on more drugs? That is the real question to ask.

The fact is Narconon works. It gets results. I am living proof.

Bringing Issues to Light

2005-03-10T11:39:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, or something like that. It is a rediculous trial of giving prescribed pharmaceutical-grade heroin to heroin addicts. It's happening in Canada. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

Anyway, a researcher/ producer from MSNBC's Hardball called today because of our article. Thankfully national media outlets are seeing the idiocy that's happening in the drug addiction treatment field, such as the assisted suicide-like practice of giving more drugs to treat addicts.

You can check out our article at http://narconon-news.blogspot.com. It's title is "Effective Drug Rehab Opposes Prescribed Heroin Trial Candada."

Making Our Presence Known

2005-02-28T07:38:00.000-08:00

Narconon has been a leader in the drug rehabilitation and education field for decades and in recent years Narconon Arrowhead and the international network has seen tremendous growth because more people are realizing the effectiveness of our programs.

The alcohol and drug addiction treatment field has saturated the Internet with websites promoting various centers and programs for treatment. Narconon Arrowhead's main website, http://www.stopaddiction.com, has been upgraded recently with more information and resources to help addicts and their friends and family members. Many thousands of people per week visit our sites and over the last year we have reached nearly 2 million people on the Internet alone. This is truly making our presence known.

Canadian Government Paying for Herion Addicts to Get High

2005-02-15T12:49:00.000-08:00

In one of the most shocking occurrances regarding drug addiction treatment in North America, the Canadian Government has sponsored a clinical trial to give pharmaceutical-grade prescription heroin to addicts.

Have they forgotten that that heroin was used in an attempt to cure morphine addiction nearly 100 years ago? Giving addicts substitute drugs in the name of treatment is harmful enough, but giving them the exact same drug is absolutely insane!

Leaders like this and the harm reduction movement are part of the reason why there must be reform in current addiction treatment practices. The only long-term effective solution to overcoming addiction is through programs like Narconon Arrowhead, which provides drug rehabilitation and education services to individuals from across the country.

A World Without Drug Abuse

2005-02-09T07:57:00.000-08:00

Imagine a world without drug abuse. Can you? That’s what author Lucas Aaron Catton is picturing in his new book “Losing the Beer Goggles: And Seeing the Truth for the First Time”.

Catton’s debut book is released after three years of writing editorials on drugs and addiction that have been printed in hundreds of newspapers across the country. The book is more like a critical essay on the state of drug abuse and addiction treatment in today’s society that offers workable solutions to make a better life for everyone. He cites that each citizen is affected by drug use, if not directly or through a family member then in the taxes they pay to house non-violent drug offenders through the Department of Corrections.

The Director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse estimates the total cost of drug use on society, in terms of money, is in the neighborhood of $500 billion per year. All money aside, our nation is losing thousands of lives each year due to drug overdoses, alcohol-related traffic fatalities and murders committed by criminals under the influence of drugs.

The author contends that given the history of drugs in our culture, targets need to be set on the legal drug industry that, in his words, spearheads the way to offering new drugs to become addicted to and ruin lives. On the treatment side, he says major reform needs to take place, and instead of psychiatrists passing out antidepressants and talking about feelings our nation needs to focus on programs that actually get results. Rehabilitation is supposed to produce drug-free individuals that contribute to society instead of being a burden on it.

Catton’s book shows a correlation of the changes he underwent in his own life and a shift he feels needs to occur in America. The result of eliminating drug abuse, he claims, would be the near eradication of countless other social problems that we face today, from poor education to the high cost of healthcare and yes, even terrorism.

“It’s not just about changing behaviors or shifting our spending habits,” Catton suggests, “it’s about changing agreement.” Creating change on such a large scale isn’t exactly easy, but he insists that it can be done. “How can anyone expect the problem to go away if they don’t think it’s possible?” he asks. “We prove every day that it can be done on an individual level. There’s no reason why it can’t be done in a community, a nation or a planet.”

He says that’s what it took for him, changing the way he looked at drugs. He couldn’t do it by himself though. He credits his own awakening to Narconon Arrowhead, a drug rehabilitation and education program that he completed five and a half years ago. Today he’s a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor working to help others with the same organization that helped him save his life.

“Losing the Beer Goggles: And Seeing the Truth for the First Time” by Lucas Aaron Catton is available online through Addiction Treatment Books and copies for qualified reviewers can be obtained from Publish America.

###

The fastest growing population segment in America

2005-02-07T07:17:00.000-08:00

The fastest growing population segment in America is through our criminal justice system and the department of corrections. Our nation's inmates have increased exponentially in the last 25 years and there are now more than 2.2 million people behing bars.

The vast majority of these people are incarcerated directly or indirectly because of drug and alcohol abuse. This population must be rehabilitated, not locked up to become better criminals.

I recently taught a class on this topic and wrote an article last week about it. Narconon Arrowhead is working with officials to not only seek drug rehabilitation for non-violent drug offenders before they get sentenced to prison, but also to provide rehabilitation services for the masses that are currently incarcerated. Without it, these offenders will simply return to the system when they're released for committing more crimes, and by far most other addiction treatment programs only attempt to address symptoms of addiction and not rehabilitate the individual.

Narconon's sister organization, Criminon, has been working with prison officials both inside the United States as well as other countries and has made a tremendously positive impact where implemented by using the highly successful secular rehabilitation technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

Idiocy in Addiction Treatment

2005-01-31T09:01:00.000-08:00

There have been numerous stories printed lately about the use of a drug called ibogaine in treating alcoholics or other drug users. Ibogaine is a root extract from somewhere in Africa that is a powerful hallucinogen.

The claim is that the drug makes others not want to use more drugs, despite the mental damage that is caused from ibogaine itself. Using drugs to treat addicts, especially physically addictive or damaging mind-altering in nature, is pure idiocy.

Effective drug rehabilitation, like the program at Narconon Arrowhead, doesn't use more drugs. It should be a no-brainer.

Dealing with Drug Abuse

2005-01-27T08:08:00.000-08:00

So I've been working with a local coalition to teach a three part class on Dealing with Drug Abuse at a local technical school.

The first two are done and went really well. In fact, we're gaining in momentum of both interest and participation within the class. We've covered topics such as looking at specific drugs of abuse and their histories, statistics of treatment admissions and how to help someone overcome addiction through effective drug rehabilitation practices.

Next week will be our last class and I think it will be the best one yet. We're going to examine drug use and criminality, the corrections system, drug use in the workplace, how to talk to your kids about drugs and we'll look at how society would be without drugs.

While I've done a lot of public speaking before, these are the first classes that I've actually 'taught.' I really do enjoy it and it's a good feeling to know people are learning more about drugs and how to live a life without them.

Hitting a nerve?

2005-01-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I wrote and distributed an article (also published on this blog) on the practice of promoting and distributing prescription drugs to addicts in the name of help. This is clearly not drug rehabilitation, and nothing close to the help that Narconon Arrowhead provides.

One of the drugs I mentioned was Campral, a drug approved to treat alcoholism. The study stated they don't know what the drug does, but that there is an apparent decrease in alcohol usage among mice, or whatever.

Today I got a call from the PR firm that represents the pharmaceutical company that manufactures and markets this drug, saying I had listed some of the side-effects incorrectly. They sent me the "approved" findings in hopes to educate me more about the drug. I thought it was pretty funny.

With all the attention on pharaceutical companies, their blatant lies and cover-ups, no wonder they're trying to counter even small-time writers like me, hah! I was flattered though that an international PR firm called ME. I guess I hit a nerve.

As long as people wake up and see what's happening, I don't really care how many nerves I do hit. It's time people open their eyes.

White House Drug Policy

2005-01-17T13:02:00.000-08:00

Despite any controversy or conflict of party affiliation, President Bush's Administration has put forth considerable effort in a positive movement regarding drug abuse.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) had clearly laid out strategies regarding preventing drug use and helping addicts recover. The Access to Recovery voucher program allows people seeking government assistance to choose a rehabilitation progrom they wish to attend instead of being forced into one of a few that already receive funding. It sounds good in theory and it will be interesting to see what happens in practice.

It should enable more people to get help at effective drug rehabilitation programs such as Narconon Arrowhead.

Check out the link above to ONDCP's website for more information on National Drug Control Policies and strategies.

Giving More Drugs to Addicts in the Name of Help?

2005-01-13T11:30:00.000-08:00

Psychiatric and pharmaceutical influence on drug rehab field has led treatment professionals to think that giving addicts more drugs is the way to go, but drug-free rehabilitation has much better long-term success

The theory and psychiatric diagnosis that alcohol and other drug addiction is an incurable brain disease has led to millions of dollars of research and trials for the pharmaceutical industry to discover a drug to effectively halt addiction to one or more substances. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) has focused a lot of attention and effort to finding drugs to treat addiction, only to come up high on hope and short on outcomes.

Many drugs have been used as substitutes in the past and several new ones are being tried currently. For example, a drug that has been legally on the market and approved for treating heroin addiction is methadone, which is a synthetic opiate. Approximately 200,000 methadone patients across the country show up at the clinic for their daily liquid dose, still trapped behind physical dependence and the fear of withdrawal. The symptoms of withdrawal for methadone are more severe than heroin.

The Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Studies (DATOS) issued a report on a multi-city study of status of patients before and after various types of treatment, including outpatient methadone treatment. Results of this study that was done in the 90’s show that there was actually a slight increase in heavy alcohol use and only a minimal decrease in the percentage of patients not being employed full-time and suicidal ideation.

Six months ago the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug Campral to treat alcohol addiction. In their release on July 29, 2004 the FDA wrote, “While its mechanism of action is not fully understood, Campral is thought to act on the brain pathways related to alcohol abuse.”

In addition to this uncertainty, the side effects for this drug include, an irregular heartbeat or pulse; high or low blood pressure; unusual bleeding or bruising; headache, tremor, nervousness, or anxiety; amnesia and abnormal thinking.
Last month a study claimed that a drug used to treat epilepsy, vigabatrin, can also be used to treat cocaine addiction although it has been associated with vision problems. Common side-effects for this drug include abdominal pain; abnormal coordination ; agitation; anxiety; clumsiness; confusion; mental depression; dizziness; drowsiness; double vision or seeing double; fatigue; trembling; tremor and unsteadiness.

There is also the common prescription for treating symptoms of addiction with antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. It is now widely known that antidepressants increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior and anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium and Xanax are themselves highly addictive.

Somewhere along our recent history somebody thought that it was a good idea to give addicts more drugs and this idea was sold to the treatment professionals, discounting the fact that some of the drugs are just as addictive and that all drugs have side-effects. An addict still on drugs cannot be considered rehabilitated.

Today there is a proven effective and completely drug-free rehabilitation program. It is one of the nation’s largest and most successful drug rehabilitation and education centers and is called Narconon Arrowhead.

Narconon Arrowhead’s program is based on research and developments of American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. The non-traditional, drug-free approach achieves a very high success rate of approximately 70%.

Covering the Cost of Drug Addiction Treatment

2005-01-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

The cost of drug addiction is spread throughout society. If it’s not out-of pocket expenses by family members for drug rehabilitation, then it is the taxpayers’ burden when drug-using criminal offenders are placed in the correctional system or government-funded treatment programs.

Untreated drug addiction bears innumerable costs to each community, including the loss of life. Effective residential treatment has proven to save money and lives in the long run, and costs can range from a few thousand to many tens of thousands of dollars.

For the families of the 22 million Americans in need of treatment insurance could help absorb much of that cost, however, there has been a controversy over insurance coverage for substance abuse treatment and as of now the dollar amounts and limitations vary with each carrier and policy.

Equal insurance coverage for substance abuse, or parity as it is commonly known, can be a double-edged sword. On one hand for those who have insurance it can be a blessing if the devastating situation ever arises. On the other hand, it opens the door for ineffective treatment programs to repeatedly get paid for no results.

The issue has gone to the Legislature, but has yet to significantly change and both sides have continued their lobbying efforts. The latest form of parity legislation is called the “Help Expand Access to Recovery and Treatment (HEART) Act.”

Perhaps the main problem with the issue is that advocates are trying to classify addiction as a disease, saying that relapse is inherent in such a condition. For several decades now alcohol and drug addiction has been viewed and treated as a brain disease by the medical and psychiatric communities where they have resorted to substitute drugs that only treat symptoms and don’t actually solve the problem.

Addiction does have both behavioral and biophysical components that need to be addressed, though substituting natural brain chemicals with more drugs such as harmful antidepressants is not a solution. In fact, it can be and often is much more damaging to a person when trying to achieve stable, long-term results. Claiming that a person is sober while being on mind-altering drugs is a direct contradiction by definition.

Last year a panel of experts in the substance abuse field, including the nation’s first appointed ‘drug czar’ Dr. Jerome Jaffe, issued a report called “Rewarding Results.” The panel stated that governments, agencies and policymakers should demand results and only pay for services that obtained results. Such a recommendation, if implemented, would force programs and agencies to be more responsible for the overall rehabilitation of the persons served.

One program that has steadily maintained a very high success rate for helping individuals overcome addiction is Narconon Arrowhead. Based on research and developments by American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, the program uses a drug-free social rehabilitation methodology comprised of an extensive sauna detoxification protocol and a series of life skills courses that addicts learn to apply to their lives and overcome the barriers to living a clean and happy life.

Though there are many factors leading and contributing to an individual’s addiction, it does not have to be made so complex that nobody can understand it. There are simple solutions available. When it comes down to it, insurance companies should provide more coverage for substance abuse treatment, but only if it actually works.

For more information about effective drug rehabilitation contact Narconon Arrowhead.

Addiction Book Author’s Message Ahead of Media Attack on Pharmaceutical Companies

2005-01-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

“Losing the Beer Goggles” talks about harmful effects of prescription drugs in addiction treatment therapy, especially antidepressants.

Lucas Aaron Catton has been working in the rehabilitation and education field for several years, following his own successful recovery from alcohol and drug abuse. After completing a drug-free program he entered the field a year later and started his extensive training and practical experience and today is a Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor through the National Board of Addiction Examiners.

Having worked in prevention, public relations, government affairs, serving on a board of a statewide provider coalition and performing spokesperson duties for one of the nation’s largest and most successful drug rehabilitation and education centers, Catton has recently had his first book published.

“Losing the Beer Goggles: And Seeing the Truth for the First Time” is a critical essay centered on addiction treatment reform that offers workable solutions for turning around our decadent society. A recurring theme throughout the book is the infestation of psychiatry and prescription drugs into the field of drug rehabilitation, citing numerous examples of the dangerous practice of prescribing antidepressants to treat addiction.

“Depression is a symptom of drug abuse and withdrawal,” comments Catton, “By no means is it a disease and neither is addiction. Antidepressants only make the problem of dealing with addiction much more complicated as well as bring on a new set of side-effects and symptoms.”

Evidence of these statements are turning up everywhere from Congressional websites to CNN, especially surrounding the recent stories regarding Prozac’s maker Eli Lilly having full knowledge of the harm their drug causes.

“It’s a multi-billion dollar ploy that’s driving up the price of healthcare and costing American lives,” says Catton, adding that Lilly is certainly not alone in this sick game of profit-pushing.

To find more information regarding all kinds of drugs in our society, get your copy of “Losing the Beer Goggles” today through Addiction Treatment Books.

Truth about antidepressants

2005-01-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

After many years of lies and deception, the pharmaceutical industry is finally starting to feel hot under the collar. The recent news about Eli Lilly having known the true dangers of Prozac hitting in the last week or so comes as no surprise. Antidepressants are a fraud in themselves and have been harming people by the millions for well over a decade and have made billions of dollars for the giant suppressive pharmaceutical machines.

The underhanded plots connecting psychiatry and pharmaceuticals have burrowed their way into the drug addiction treatment field, wreaking even more havoc on those needing real drug rehabilitation.

Here's a good place to read about news from Narconon Arrowhead, which is updated at least twice per week.

Developing Alliances

2005-01-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy communicating with people, especially when I have an oppurtunity to convey the truth about alcohol and other drugs and addiction.

I have a magazine out of Connecticut that is going to review my book, which helps to get more data to broad groups of people.

I have also contacted the Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Cuacus of the 108th Congress to let them know about the effectiveness of the Narconon Arrowhead program.

The more alliances developed through these communications the more of a chance we have to get the false information removed from society regarding drugs. We're well on our way!

2004-12-27T17:58:00.000-08:00

One need not look far to find a major source of trouble in America; drugs. There are approximately 22 million people in this country addicted to substances such as cocaine, heroin, alcohol and methamphetamine, which is the cause of innumerable other social problems. However, there is another group of drugs and their manufacturers that is causing an entirely new set of problems.

The 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports 6.3 million persons currently use prescription medications non-medically. The Drug Abuse Warning Network reported drug abuse-related emergency room visits involving prescription pain relievers increased 153 percent since 1995.

The legal drug industry is one of the most lucrative in the world, which is why it continues to grow. In fact, pharmaceutical companies make so much money off of the government and citizens of this country that they have easily been able to pay the more than $1.5 billion in fines for Medicaid and other fraud since 2001, according to an article in the New York Times, which included a recent law suit by New York City.

Since the profits of such drugs are huge, more companies are finding ways to sell them, such as online pharmacies. Many people now receive a daily barrage of spam e-mails selling a variety of drugs, which is why the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has set up a system to report online drug-pushers. Anonymous reports can be taken at 1-877-RxAbuse or can be made online at www.dea.gov by clicking on a link and filling out an electronic form.

Preliminary data from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s Attitude Tracking Study suggests that many adolescents do not consider pharmaceutical drug abuse to be risky. In addition, the DEA says that one out of every ten high school seniors now reports abusing powerful prescription pain killers.

Even more disturbing is that there are approximately 6 percent of kids in this country that are prescribed amphetamines, antidepressants or anti-psychotics, all of which are very powerful, addictive and mind-altering. Over the last 15 years or so the number of kids on psychiatric drugs has tripled, and the number of teens using Ritalin® or Adderall® illegally is more than three times higher than the percentage of persons 12 or older that reported using cocaine in the past month.

The trend of pushing drugs for almost any symptom has spread its way into treating drug addicts, and millions of dollars are now being spent to develop anti-addiction drugs or studying existing drugs’ effects on addicts. Of the addicted individuals that enter traditional treatment, many become frustrated with the lack of results, continued relapse or because they are being given replacement drugs.

One drug often used as a substitute for heroin addiction is methadone, which is a synthetic opiate, despite the fact that in Oregon methadone has become the state’s most deadly drug with 103 deaths in 2002.

This trend will continue until people take a stand against the pharmaceutical elephant in the living room.

Working to create safer and more successful ways of treating drug and alcohol addiction is Narconon Arrowhead, one of the nation’s largest and most effective drug rehabilitation and education facilities. Narconon Arrowhead does not use any drugs in treating addiction, through the application of L. Ron Hubbard’s drug-free methodology, and has a success rate of 70% for helping individuals overcome addiction.

If you or someone you love is struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction, contact Narconon Arrowhead by calling 1-800-468-6933 today.

Another Resource

2004-12-22T14:00:00.000-08:00

I came across another blog that looks pretty cool. It will definitely be one to watch regarding the topic of alcohol and drug treatment.

Whatever it Takes to End Addiction

2004-12-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

Over the last several years, I have been working with many drug rehab centers and addiction recovery professionals to help end substance abuse. After revisiting this original posting 5 years later, we have combined to help literally millions of people in different ways through education and prevention to policy discussions and patient advocacy as well as of course rehabilitation and treatment.

This obviously is still only the beginning and there is much more to come.

The more you know...

2004-12-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

I know it sounds a bit cheezy and it comes from some NBC PSA or something, but it's actually true. It's a bit like the old G.I. Joe cartoon where they would end up with the saying "And knowing is half the battle." The fact is, it's true.

We work to educate thousands of individuals every day about drug and alcohol abuse and addiction treatment and do so through the Internet, news media, television and radio. In fact, we average more than 30 live or taped radio interviews every week all across the country, merely to help raise awareness and educate listeners.

Again, the more you know, the better you are...

Steroids and Drug Use in Sports

2004-12-13T07:49:00.000-08:00

Steroids and Drug Use in Sports

International Olympic Committee and Major League Baseball seeking to clamp down on steroids and other drug use and addiction by revising drug testing policies

(PRWEB) December 12, 2004 -- The driving force behind competition has led individuals within various athletic arenas to tarnish themselves, their sport and their country by using performance-enhancing drugs. With the ongoing BALCO scandal and the naming of specific athletes, including an Olympic Gold Medalist Marion Jones and the Major League single-season homerun record holder Barry Bonds.

The ongoing controversy over drug use in athletics has also led to Senator John McCain offering help from a Legislative level. Major League Baseball and the International Olympic Committee are continuing investigations and seeking out possible reform to current policies regarding steroid and other drug use.

Since the 1950s, some athletes have been taking anabolic steroids to build muscle and boost their athletic performance. Increasingly, other segments of the population also have been taking these compounds.

Regardless of whether it is considered right or wrong in athletics, there are plenty of documented health risks and side effects associated with steroids. In addition to this there is the abuse potential and the possibility of leading to addiction to other drugs as well.

Seeing role models artificially enhancing themselves for increased performance, condoning use of drugs such as marijuana or even simply saying that they have a right to not be tested for using illicit drugs represents a bad example for our children. It can act as a built-in justifier, “So and so does it, and look where he (or she) is.” For the sake of our future, the last thing we need is to make it look okay for our children to do drugs.

While recent studies indicate that 90% of high school students view steroid use as dangerous, there has been a 50% increase in the number of teens who have tried steroids since 1991. Overall, the prevalence of lifetime illegal steroid use among students in grades 9-12 is higher among males (6.8%) than females (5.3%).

Teens that use steroids are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors as well. For example, one study found that teen steroid users were more likely to use alcohol and illicit drugs, practice risky sex and engage in suicidal behavior.

When dealing with addiction, to steroids or any other drugs, it is important to handle the situation without using more chemicals that alter the body. Though it sounds simple, too many treatment programs assign addiction the label of being a brain disease and therefore attempt to treat the problem with more drugs to “restore balance.”

There is one program that is currently operating in 40 countries and rapidly expanding due to its effectiveness. It is a treatment and education organization called Narconon which utilizes the successful drug-free rehabilitation methodology researched and developed by American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

Narconon Arrowhead is the largest center in the international Narconon network, and according to an Arrowhead representative, “We do see a number of people that have become addicted to stimulants such as cocaine, crack and methamphetamine as a result of their steroid use.”

Mass Communication

2004-12-10T11:57:00.000-08:00

So far the news distribution channel that I found is doing really well. According to its stats, nearly 200,000 readers have clicked on our two articles and close to 500 media outlets have picked it up as well. That's really good news!

I have a sincere passion for communicating the truth about drugs to people and working on creating effective addiction treatment reform.

Assisting in Visibility

2004-12-08T09:09:00.000-08:00

As I continue to learn more about various forms of broad communication mediums, including the many ways to use the web, I came across a good tool for distributing our press releases.

The first one we sent placed either #1 or at least on the first page of Google News as well as Yahoo News for the topic. It's fantastic!

Now we can get more visibility in order to offer our effective addiction treatment and prevention programs for more people. This particular release dealth with methamphetamine, which is one of the fastest spreading drugs of abuse in the country.

A couple new sites

2004-12-02T14:08:00.000-08:00

Last month, with my very minimal web-design skills and the help of a co-worker, we put up two additional sites. One is for Oklahoma Addiction Treatment and the other one is for Alcohol Addiction Treatment. Both of them are pretty simple and don't have a lot of flashy script or style, but they get the necessary information out there. Now if only people could find them....

Of course there's always our main website about drug addiction treatment, which has continued to allow us to help people for many years.

New Book, New Site, New Life

2004-11-14T11:13:00.000-08:00

My first book was officially published last week. It's called Losing the Beer Goggles: And Seeing the Truth for the First Time. It's a collection of commentaries and criticism on drugs and addiction in our society. It's really more like a really long essay on these things with offerings of solutions instead of just writing about what is wrong. Check it out at www.addiction-treatment-books.com or visit Publish America to order the book.

I'm excited to keep moving on my goals and this is one small target completed.

Rhyme With a Reason

2004-07-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

Residing in the northern suburbs of Atlanta in the 90's, where the economy was booming and jobs and new homes abound, life seemed to be going well for Jeff Catton and his family after migrating from the northern Midwest. He and his wife Susan worked at a hard but rewarding entrepreneurial career in the healthcare field, their oldest son Jason was proudly serving the country in the United States Marine Corps and youngest son Luke was getting good grades and playing sports. At times, it seemed like they were living the 'American Dream.'

Things started to change on New Year's Eve of 1994 when Jeff and Susan came home to find 16 year-old Luke and his friends in a state of intoxication. Though this was the first time, it turned out to not be the last.

Luke had good enough grades early on for him to graduate high school early. Though his drinking was moderate through his sophomore and junior years, he quit playing for the high school baseball and basketball teams. When he turned 18 all hell broke loose, as he suddenly had no time schedule during the day, nowhere to be early in the morning and a group of friends that encouraged him to party.

During the next three years Luke dropped out of two colleges, totaled his car and changed jobs nearly a dozen times, not showing any responsibility or stability due to his alcoholism. The behavior landed Luke in financial difficulties and legal trouble, having been arrested twice for under-age alcohol consumption.

"I just couldn't understand why my son was destroying himself and harming everyone around him," recalls Jeff, who had tried on numerous occasions to confront Luke on his drinking problems. "He became a totally different person and didn't seem to care anymore."

Finally one July evening in '99 Jeff got a call from his son Luke, then living in Florida in a state of complete desperation and depression from addiction to alcohol and ecstasy, looking for help. "I could hear in his voice how desperate he was," said Jeff, "I told him to just come home."

Two days later, that's exactly what happened. Jeff and Susan found a non-traditional drug rehabilitation program in Oklahoma called Narconon that utilizes the drug-free methodology of L. Ron Hubbard and has an extremely high success rate. Luke was on a flight out there after the weekend, ready to start a new life without drugs or alcohol.

Nearly four years later, life is better than ever for Jeff and his family. His business is doing exceptionally well, his youngest son is now happily married to his new wife Erica and drug-free, and this Father's Day is his first as a grandfather, as his oldest son Jason and his wife Amy just had their first son.

In his spare time, Jeff plays in a band called Chronic Tendencies. As a reminder of the troubled past, Jeff wrote a song about his son's addiction and the pain involved from a father's perspective. When the song is recorded and released on Amercian Roots & Blues Records, he plans to give a portion of the proceeds back to the program that saved his son's life, now called Narconon Arrowhead.

According to Jeff, "I just hope that other fathers in a similar situation to what I was in can know the happiness and comfort that I now have, thanks to the wonderful people dedicated to saving lives from the devastation of addiction."

Woes Continue for Drug Companies

2004-07-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that the majority of rising health care costs can be attributed to the high price of prescription drugs. The multi-billion dollar per year industry rakes in huge profits for manufacturers, who spend more money on advertising than research.

In addition to aggressive media campaigns, legal drug manufacturers have resorted to other means of getting their products into the hands of consumers, including paying doctors for “consulting fees” to prescribe their chemicals for on- and off-label uses.

A recent New York Times article discloses specific information about physicians receiving checks in the five-figure range for these “services,” and several of the nation’s largest legal drug manufacturers have received subpoenas for an ongoing federal investigation into these illegal practices.

Many of the best selling drugs are for fictitious mental diseases that are conjured up by the American Psychiatric Association, where clinical trials have also been skewed by paying the researchers for desirable outcomes.

The Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV) currently lists hundreds of disorders, many of which claim to have symptoms that are common in everyday life for most people. The DSM has increased the number of disorders substantially with each addition, which is why it should be no surprise that the National Institute of Mental Health claims that there are 17.5 million Americans with one or more serious mental illnesses. A recent report also says that there are 4 million adults that have a mental disorder and a substance abuse disorder.

Laying aside all claims, the bottom line is that there has been an intimate connection between psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry for decades, bilking the government and consumers out of hundreds of billions of dollars through fraudulent practices.

Let us not forget that most illegal drugs were once legally manufactured and sold to people as a cure or treatment from some other type of malady, and now there are millions of people caught in the vicious trap of addiction.

This cycle of promoting chemicals to cure illnesses and people falling to the “side effects” is not new and most estimates of addicted Americans, now totaling 23 million people, are low because they do not take an accurate count of those hooked on prescription medications. It is a cycle that will continue until people can start focusing their efforts on effective solutions instead of simply accepting the norm or fad when it comes to healthcare, especially in the areas of mental health.

This is the approach that is taken in the field of drug rehabilitation and education by Narconon Arrowhead, one of the nation’s largest and most successful facilities. The program utilizes the proven drug-free methodology developed by L. Ron Hubbard and truly restores individuals to their former capacity, without using more drugs, whether they’re legal or not.

What's Next?

2004-06-04T20:05:00.002-07:00

It happened again. The deception, unethical practices and outright criminality of the pharmaceutical industry has been exposed to the public eye, but only briefly.

Pfizer, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, just plead guilty and was forced to pay $430million for criminal and civil charges of paying doctors to illegally prescribe a drug for off-label use. It may sound huge, but last year's sales of the drug neared $3 billion, and 90% of the revenue came from off-label use.

U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan was quoted in the New York Times as saying, "This illegal and fraudulent promotion scheme corrupted the information process relied upon by doctors in their medical decision-making, thereby putting patients at risk."

Pfizer is not the first drug pusher to be found guilty of illegal marketing schemes and you can bet that it certainly isn't the only one who's done it recently. If the U.S. attorney's office looked deeper, I'd bet the majority of pharmaceutical companies are currently engaged in similar practices that at best would be considered questionable, depending on how far they can bend the law or how much they can afford to pay and still turn billion dollar profits.

The legal drug business is one of the most lucrative in the world today and it continues to grow. Citizens are not just paying the increased prices, but they're paying with their liveliness as well, since all drugs have side-effects, many of which cause more severe symptoms than the ailments that they are supposed to help.

Let's not forget the fact that many of today's most dangerous illicit drugs were once praised and sold by pharmaceutical companies including cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and LSD. Of course there's amphetamines in various forms and the most prevalent is getting our nation's children hooked on drugs at an early age.

Regardless of what the latest fad or craze is, we must remember that a drug is still a drug, many are physically or mentally addictive and all drugs are toxic to a person's body, the degree depends on the amount taken.

Millions of people are blindly taking whatever is prescribed to them by their trusted doctor, but as this example shows, doctors can be in the pocket of pharmaceutical companies, who have their bank accounts in mind far above our well-being.

When people do finally wake up and realize that they can be much better off without the drugs that they were conned into taking, legally or illegally, there is only one effective way to rid the body of the toxic residues that store in the fatty tissue and continue to cause damage. This comes in the form of a unique detoxification protocol developed by American author, researcher and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

Thousands of people every day that are seeking to rid themselves of the unwanted affects of drugs, especially those addicted seek this form of rehabilitation, which is utilized in the Narconon drug rehabilitation and education program. One of the largest and most effective treatment centers in the country is Narconon Arrowhead.

If you or someone you know has a problem with drugs, it would behoove you to contact them for more information by calling 1-800-468-6933 or log on to www.stopaddiction.com.

It breaks my heart to see stories like this in the news and yet in the same segment show commercials enticing people to ask their doctor for a prescription of one drug or another. When will we finally wake up?

Waking Up America

2004-03-23T23:13:00.000-08:00

In the past couple decades many people have naively followed down the path of chemical treatments for both real and imagined diseases, illnesses and disorders. Often this is done without knowing the truth about the causes of their ailments, what kind of safe remedies are available or what the adverse reactions are of their newly prescribed drugs.

The latest trend in drug addiction treatment deals with co-occurring psychiatric disorders, meaning an individual is said to have a substance abuse disorder and one or more mental disorders. These disorders can be located in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM IV). An interesting point about the DSM is that new disorders are supposedly discovered and subsequently labeled as time goes by.

A person addicted to drugs can display many types of abnormal behavior, ranging from depression to anxiety to psychosis and dementia, sometimes occurring during use as well as the withdrawal stages.

These two industries, psychiatry and legal drug manufacturing, have combined to conjure up 374 mental disorders, as listed in the DSM-IV. The number of disorders increases with each edition and most of them recommend to be treated with mind-altering drugs. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out which came first, the new disorder or the drug to treat it.

Following investigations into the risks of antidepressant medication on children, the FDA is now advising clinicians, patients, families and caregivers of adults and children that they should closely monitor all patients being placed on therapy with these drugs for worsening depression and suicidal thinking, which can occur during the early period of treatment.

The Administration is also asking manufacturers to change the labels of ten drugs (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Effexor, Remeron, Lexapro, Luvox, and Serzone) to include stronger cautions and warnings about the need to monitor patients for the worsening of depression and the emergence of suicidal ideation, regardless of the cause of such worsening.

The more science and medicine focus on the chemical composition of human beings’ bodies and develop more drugs to treat symptoms, the more we as a nation are denying innate abilities that people have to overcome fantastic obstacles with the human mind and/or spirit.

In the field of drug addiction and rehabilitation, American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard did extensive research and his findings and practices in this area are the basis for the Narconon® Drug Rehabilitation and Education Program.

In September of 1969, Hubbard wrote this on the subject of addiction:

“The addict has been found not to want to be an addict, but is driven by pain and environmental hopelessness. As soon as an addict can feel healthier and more competent mentally and physically without drugs than he does on drugs, he ceases to require drugs.”

It is this premise that has freed thousands of individuals from addiction as well as the continued lasting affects of drug residues, which store inside a person’s body long after use ceases.

Drug use and addiction is not a new problem, but until governments and institutions learn and use workable and effective methodology instead of what has been accepted as the norm, it will continue to be one of the largest problems.

To find out more information about drug-free rehabilitation or to get help for a loved one in need, contact Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933 or log on to www.stopaddiction.com.

They’re Never Too Young

2004-02-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

Talk to your kids about drugs and alcohol, before it’s too late.

Working in the drug rehabilitation and education field for the last several years, I’ve heard or seen just about everything imaginable when it comes to addiction and the related lifestyle. From hideous crimes that strip people of their dignity and families of loved ones, to stories of personal loss beyond the level of comprehension for most people.

After a while you learn to not be shocked anymore while maintaining your ability to be empathetic. The intent certainly is not to become calloused, but to be a stable positive influence on those you’re trying to help regain their personal integrity and responsibility to lead a healthy and productive life that contributes to society once again.

If there is a particular scenario that’s the most difficult to deal with, it is when young kids are exposed to drugs. There are countless stories of children being hurt because of their parents’ or siblings’ drug use, from leading a life of poverty or a broken home to exposure to the hazardous chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine.

Just last month two sixth grade students in Louisiana were arrested for possession of marijuana and six other students were involved in some way or another. I also had the displeasure of trying to work with two sisters in elementary school that were caught bringing drugs to classmates, acting as runners for their older brothers, and admitted to smoking marijuana at home on a regular basis.

In the same town a third grade girl brought me a picture that she drew of a pipe and other drug paraphernalia. I asked where she saw these items and she replied with great fear in her eyes, “at home.” For a moment I was lost for words. Third grade. It is absolutely heartbreaking.

Education and prevention efforts must start at earlier ages, and must start at home. Our children need to know everything about drugs and the damage they cause and this can be done without building their curiosity or using scare tactics. Simple two-way communication with the truth is what works.

Our civilization is plagued with drugs, from mind-altering or painkilling prescription drugs, to illicit street drugs that were once considered safe as well. The legal drug industry markets to our children well before most of us are aware of it. We must counter their efforts with the truth.
Part of that truth includes the fact that substance abuse is a social illness, not a mental disease, and that we can change the pattern and wipe out the use of drugs altogether. Otherwise people are led to believe that their genetics somehow predestines them to become addicts and that it will always be a factor in their lives. This is not what is true.

We as individuals and as a society can take control of the situation, but it means that we must have compassion for our neighbors and take responsibility for our own zone of influence. A community that pulls together can make a better society for all. In fact, we must, for the sake of our children.

Luke Catton is the President of Narconon Arrowhead, the largest facility in the international network of Narconon centers that use the drug rehabilitation methodology of American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. He has personally lectured to tens of thousands of children and adults on the subject of substance abuse. His articles have appeared in hundreds of newspapers across all 50 states and he has been a guest on dozens of TV and radio interviews around the country. To find out more information or to get help for a loved one in need click here.

Help From Someone Who’s Been There

2004-01-11T15:08:00.000-08:00

The positive role of rehabilitated addicts who now help others overcome addiction

Substance abuse is a festering sore in our society, and nobody knows that better than someone who’s beaten a drug or alcohol addiction. Theft, assault, domestic violence, auto accidents, disease, divorce; these are all too common of a factor in the life of someone using drugs and the consequences are passed on to friends, family members and taxpayers.

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of different types of treatment programs available for addicts today. Along with the numerous methodologies comes varying combinations of degrees, licenses, certifications and experience among the professional treatment staff.

Some programs rely heavily on medical training and substitute drugs while others depend on subjective diagnoses mixed with individual and group therapy sessions with licensed therapists. However, through most addicts’ viewpoint, the pieces of paper tend not to matter as much as someone that can connect with them and help see them through their treatment.

This connection often comes in the form of a fellow patient or a staff member who has also recovered from addiction. The popularity of having a sponsor in a 12-step group is well known throughout the country in mainstream treatment and aftercare practices. Of course, the program itself has to be successful in design and application in order for this method to have lasting effects.

The Narconon program positively capitalizes on the experience and passion of rehabilitated addicts to help others overcome addiction. Through the application of L. Ron Hubbard’s secular drug-free rehabilitation methodology, Narconon achieves approximately a 70% success rate for its graduates.

Once becoming aware of the truth about addiction and regaining the ability to live productive and ethical lives again, many former addicts develop a purpose to help others do the same. This was also true of William Benitez, the founder of the Narconon program in Arizona State Prison in 1966, who turned around and helped fellow inmates get off drugs once he was able to do so himself.

As a component of the program, students (instead of patients because it is a learning atmosphere) also learn to start taking responsibility for not only themselves but also another by helping them through the life skills courses. This action proves to be a positive influence for reintegration into society again and having to interact with others with newly developed tools for handling life.

Today, in 36 countries around the world, hundreds of Narconon graduates are now doing the same thing, helping others as they had been helped. With standardized program materials and training procedures and certifications, almost anyone wishing to use the technology can easily learn it and apply it, bettering themselves and their environments.

It is the simple duplication of workable technology that has helped thousands of former addicts to become drug free.

To find out more information or to get help for a loved one in need, contact Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933 or log on to www.stopaddiction.com.

Addiction Research Still Seaking Validation

2003-12-13T22:22:00.000-08:00

For decades now the scientific community has been trying to pin a label on addiction, saying that it is a family disease passed on through genes causing a neurological disorder. Today, that research continues after hundreds of millions of dollars have failed to prove the theory, which is largely backed by the fields of pharmacology and psychiatry that continue to reap the financial rewards regardless of results.

In announcements for new funding opportunities for research earlier this month, the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) says that “Scientists believe the disorders arise from multiple genes exerting small effects, gene-by-gene interactions, gene-by-environment interactions, and a host of environmental factors and risk behaviors. However, there has been limited success in reliably identifying specific susceptibility genes for drug abuse,” and “…the genetic variants underlying increased susceptibility to this disease are unknown.”

This is merely a continuation of a pattern of unproven theories designed to make drug addiction into some complex disease that justifies the inadequacies of mainstream addiction treatment. The fact is that if you read any of the studies regarding addiction as a disease or some neurological disorder, the findings always use words like may or suggest, but never conclusively prove anything. It is a scam pulling the wool over the eyes of Americans that continues to subdue society under the latest anti-depressant or anti-psychotic drug and raise the cost of healthcare and insurance.

There is an alternative approach that is simple and proven effective for ending drug addiction called the Narconon program. Narconon uses the drug-free rehabilitation methodology of L. Ron Hubbard, who spent decades researching the effects of drugs and how to remedy the problem. Narconon uses a sauna detoxification program to rid an individual’s body of drug residues, which cause physical cravings and are the primary cause for relapse. This is followed by a series of life skills courses that help the individual to confront, control and communicate and enables the former addict to overcome his addiction much easier.

Thousands of former addicts are now living healthy, productive drug-free lives because of Narconon, most of whom had tried traditional medical approaches first only to find no results.

Disproving the Disease Theory of Addiction

2003-11-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

Want to know the best way to disprove the disease theory of addiction? Find a former addict who has been clean for years, doesn't need any more treatment or go to meetings and has had no signs of relapse. There are actually millions of people like this, and I'm just one of them. There is no other need for discussion when there are that many examples to disprove the lie. Addiction recovery doesn't have to be a life-long process and relapse is not inevitable. Addiction is not a disease. End of story.

Holiday Season Not a Time of Joy for Some

2003-11-15T08:14:00.000-08:00

There are millions of people in America that aren’t exactly looking forward to the Holiday Season. These are people that have an addiction to drugs or alcohol.

Drug and alcohol addiction affects everyone in one way or another, whether as an addict, a friend or family member, or an everyday citizen that is charged with carrying some of the burden through tax dollars. Without a doubt addiction is the world’s number one health problem, and is the underlying cause for many other societal ills, including accidents, diseases, abuse and other criminal activity.

Guilt is a major component in the life cycle of addiction. Most addicts are basically good people before they become addicts and have some sense of right and wrong with no intention of hurting others. As they become dependent on the chemical, they begin experiencing situations where they are doing and saying things they know deep down aren’t right. They begin to lose their ability to control themselves. They become trapped in a vicious circle of using drugs, lying about it, stealing to support more drug use and at each turn the addict is accumulating memories of each these negative incidents.

The addict commits a negative action and he records a memory of that moment, which includes whomever he was involved with at the time. The addict knows these negative actions are wrong and so feels bad about them after the fact. These memories of guilt can then get triggered in the present or future when he sees the people and places that were involved when the transgressions were committed in and feels bad about it.

In time these transgressions are committed more and more often and the people in the addict’s life where these transgressions have occurred become "triggers" of the dishonest act or deed. The people, family members, loved ones and friend's appearance to the addict triggers the guilt. Family or friends don't necessarily have to say a word to the addict; just the sight of them can trigger the guilt. To avoid these unpleasant guilt feelings, the addict will use more drugs to insulate himself from the guilt. Addicts will also begin to withdraw more and more from friends and family as the transgressions committed increase in number. They will eventually pull away from the family, seclude themselves and/or become antagonistic towards those they love.

This is a scene that is far too often played out during the Holiday Season, which is when families often reunite. The display of negative emotions and the guilt from the past transgressions typically drives addicts to use drugs heavily during or directly after time spent with family, attempting to chase away the guilt.

We see a substantial increase in number of people reaching for help this time of year and during the immediate weeks after the Holidays. We have experienced counselors, many of whom have overcome an addiction themselves, that can now effectively help others do the same.

As the coming weeks unfold, we will look at many of the factors of substance abuse and how this time of year has an impact, and visa versa.

Narconon Arrowhead is one of the nation’s largest and most successful residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers and uses the drug-free social education methodology developed by American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard, achieving a success rate many times higher than the national average.

Survey Shows a High Percentage of Addicts Claim They're 'Not Ready' For Treatment

2003-11-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

The 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that approximately 46% of addicts that felt they had an unmet need of treatment claimed that they simply weren't ready, topping the list of reasons. Overall there were a higher percentage of such people with alcohol addiction and the total combined between alcohol and illicit drugs was more than a half a million Americans.

While some experts claim that if addicts are not ready then you can't help them, this only holds true to a certain degree. Often some type of intervention can be done to motivate the addict to seek help. Examples of this could be a family, law enforcement or judicial intervention or simply the right person educating them about what's truly going on with them to help bring a greater understanding to the situation.

In many cases the hesitation to seek treatment stems from a fear of withdrawal symptoms or a lack of confidence in a traditional field that gets limited results.

We don't simply sit back and wait for addicts to come running to us. We aggressively promote to them and their family members that there are, in fact, effective solutions to ending addiction without having to get prescribed on another drug.

Narconon Arrowhead is one of the nation's largest private residential facilities. Its services are in high demand because of its successful non-traditional approach to full drug rehabilitation based on research and developments by L. Ron Hubbard.

When people from all over the country contact us for help for themselves or a loved one they get more truth about drug addiction than they've ever had as well as resources and solutions on how to solve the problem. Relapse does not have to be part of the recovery process, that line is simply a justifier for a lack of success from more traditional methodology. We demonstrate that fact effectively every day by truly freeing people from the downward spiral of addiction.

Though you can't force people into doing something they don't want to do, there are some simple steps to enlightening them that make them reach for help.

The Narconon program uses dry heat sauna detoxification therapy to rid addicts of physical cravings and follows up with a series of life skills courses to give them the tools they need to truly succeed.

Improving the Statistics of Recovery

2003-11-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

Alternative programs for drug rehabilitation and those with proven results are coming into the light, especially through President Bush’s Faith and Community Based Initiative and Access to Recovery program. Much of this push is simply because more traditional methods have not produced sufficient outcomes.

Among the giant well-known treatment centers of this country lies a sleeping giant, called Narconon Arrowhead, that is the center of an international network now operating in 36 countries around the world. The Narconon program boasts a success rate of approximately 70% of its graduates remaining drug free. Narconon literally means narcotics-none, or no drugs, and uses the drug-free rehabilitation methodology of American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

The program is so successful that other professionals are now starting to turn to Narconon for answers. One veteran of the field is Bill Jensen, an internationally certified alcohol and drug counselor with his own counseling practice in Idaho. After completing extensive continuing education courses and training offered through Narconon Arrowhead, he has converted his old program into what is now Narconon Idaho and is getting much better results. This is but one example out of many.

“Sometimes people need alternative methods of handling a problem,” explains Luke Catton, former president of Narconon Arrowhead, “And in the case of drug addiction, we’ve proven for over three decades that our non-traditional approach achieves a much higher standard for most addicts. Drug addiction doesn’t have to be a lifelong battle where you’re constantly fighting the cravings and urges to use again.” Catton, a former addict himself, speaks from experience.

In an unfortunate effort to combine resources, many states have merged their mental health and substance abuse agencies into one that oversees both. The fundamental premise, besides cutting out the possibility of duplicating oversight, is the false idea that drug addiction is a disease, thus falling under the mental health category as being a neurological disorder.

One of the primary problems with such a combination is that mental health agencies get paid for continuing to treat people with so-called neurological disorder, while the goal of drug rehabilitation is to restore the individual to his former capacity, not having to be “in recovery” for the rest of his life.

The fictitious mental health approach to substance abuse makes it okay to relapse, saying that it is a part of recovery and that since the addict has a disease, it is expected. What it is really doing is trying to justify the fact that the modalities don’t work, and what little results are obtained often include a substitute drug, an array of medications or attending meetings for years, none of which is restoring the individual to the way he was before he ever started using drugs.

Catton adds passionately, “Our goal is the total eradication of substance abuse. We would love to put ourselves out of business [by ending drug addiction] and move on to something else. It is possible, but we as individuals and as nations must agree that it can be done and that we won’t settle for ineffective measures.”

Drug addiction can be overcome, and it doesn’t have to take decades to do so.

Drug Money Pulls the Wool Over the Eyes of Americans

2003-11-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

Terrorism, or even the threat of it, causing the presence of a plastic gun to shut down a government building, massive blackouts adversely affecting millions of people, arson-ignited wildfires destroying nearly a million acres of land, solar explosions and millions of people, including children, being put on mind-altering drugs. Sensationalism brings death and destruction to television sets every morning, noon and night.

Fear. That is what is being driven into the hearts and minds of Americans on a daily basis. When life seems too difficult to confront, people often turn to drugs, either illegal or prescription, to create an altered state of mind to temporarily cope with the problems.

This common reaction of turning to drugs is a huge profit, and those that are in the business of manufacturing, trafficking and selling drugs love to see the money roll in and will stop at nothing in an attempt to discredit or destroy anything or anyone that oppose a society on drugs.

The illicit drug trade has been estimated to be more than a $100 billion annual operation. With huge profits comes a certain amount of power, enough to enlist the help of governments, including well-documented accounts of the United States’ own CIA drug trafficking. The depth of this deadly power is yet wholly unknown, but another less-suspect facet is the legal drug business.

In a report issued by the Common Cause Education Fund (CCEF) in 2001, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) and its member companies paid an estimated $360 million for lobbying, advertising, and political donations to protect their ambitious legislative agenda. The report says that agenda has resulted in higher costs and less access to affordable drugs for the truly sick and elderly, and special tax breaks for what is considered to be one of the world's most profitable industries.

The drug company benefits often include millions of dollars for research from the federal government, only to turn around and sell the drugs that are developed back to the government for an even greater profit on top of billions of dollars in annual sales to the general public. That’s just the beginning.

The PhRMA was recently cited in a Time magazine article as claiming that as many as 10% of American kids may suffer from some mental illness and that twice as many have shown some symptoms of depression. Of course they would say that, the more people on drugs, the more money they make and the more of society, the medical profession and big media conglomerates they can control.

Additionally, pharmaceutical manufacturers often give millions of dollars to universities to study new drugs in different applications, including off-label use, typically acting in conjunction with the latest neurological disorder made up by the American Psychiatric Association and only releasing those that appear to be favorable to them. These two industries, psychiatry and legal drug manufacturing, have combined to conjure up 374 mental disorders, as listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The number of disorders increases with each edition and most of them recommend to be treated with mind-altering drugs. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out which came first, the new disorder or the drug to treat it.

Let’s not forget the fact that what are considered to be harmful street drugs today, such as cocaine, heroin, LSD, ecstasy, etc. were once developed as supposedly having some type of medical or psychiatric benefit. Where does that put today’s legal drugs fifty years from now?

Never mind the fact that these drugs are deadly and addictive today. Insurance companies are more likely to reimburse patients and treatment providers for pharmacotherapy than for actual rehabilitation, hence the upshot of co-occurring disorder units in many mainstream medical model addiction treatment centers.

This covertly insidious operation isn’t the answer to the increasing societal problems; it is the cause of them.

Thankfully, in the midst of it all, there is an underdog with an even more powerful weapon called truth. Fighting off attacks from those who benefit by putting people on drugs and expanding in the face of it by producing real results, we offer real help for people seeking to end addiction by helping them find out the truth and get into successful drug rehab centers. Call us today at 1-877-372-5719.

Change: That which is hardest to confront is usually for the better

2003-11-01T16:21:00.000-08:00

Easily observed in rural populations, many people in America are suspicious of new ideas or methods, no matter how good or how effective they might be. Take for example the microwave oven, which needed nearly 30 years to finally become commonplace in homes across the country, or e-mail, now used by the majority of the population 12 and older, was first developed in 1972 yet took more than twenty years to catch on. It often takes many years for new things to gain recognition and acceptance in areas where tradition is valued and even considered a virtue.

When it comes to drug and alcohol rehabilitation and education, there is a unique program that fits in this same category of being new. Though the NARCONON program has been getting people stably off drugs for more than three decades, it is still looked at as a new approach and therefore sometimes causes hesitancy to accept. This is despite the fact that the program achieves proven results for helping individuals overcome addiction far above typical programs in the same field.

Founded by William Benitez in 1966 in Arizona State Prison and based on research and development by L. Ron Hubbard, the NARCONON program has since expanded to operations in 35 countries and continues to rapidly grow, simply because it works.

Support for the program has gone beyond mere acceptance, with community leaders and government officials recognizing that in order to reverse the downward spiral our society continues to drown in we must utilize the most effective methods available. This has to be in conjunction with efforts from all sectors of society, including elected officials, law enforcement, schools, parents, the many faith organizations, healthcare providers, the correctional system and of course the various forms of media to help carry the message that change for the better must occur.

As per the vision of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, the parties truly interested in making a change need to work together to organize and develop plans and programs to coordinate anti-drug efforts. The result is a comprehensive, community-wide approach to substance abuse and its related problems. At the center of this approach must be effective prevention and rehabilitation methods.

As a society we can remain in the frame of mind that the problem is ‘over there,’ or we can step up to the plate and take responsibility for today and for our future, our children. The methods that have been used to date have yet to reverse the statistics of our society. The difficult task of confronting the problem fully and demanding results rests on the shoulders of us all; nobody else is going to do it for us.

For more information or help for a loved one find out more about biophysical drug rehab programs like Narconon by calling 1-877-421-9659.