This can be very dangerous, especially when people show up at the hospital because they used too much of these designer drugs. If the person is at the point where they are unconscious, the doctor may have no idea what is wrong with the person or how to treat them. Blood work at this point would do nothing for the attending physician in the search to figure out what is wrong with the person. Again the only way that even a doctor would know that the person used a designer drug and is having negative side effects from it is if the person tells the doctor.

Bath Salts or Reformulated Powders

Recently there has been a problem with a new drug that is being sold as bath salts. In the states where the term for the drug “bath salts” has become illegal, they are calling the drug reformulated powders. In most states however, it is still known as bath salts. These drugs are not the usual bath salts that people put in the bath like Epsom salt. Most of the bath salts(the drug) that are sold these days are stimulants. There are quite a few different formulas, and each one has a different effect. Bath salts are usually snorted, however there have been people who have been known to eat them, mix them into drinks, smoke them and even shoot them up. The effects that bath salts have on a person are similar to that of cocaine and methamphetamine. When a person snorts this drug, the initial effect is one that is similar to that of cocaine and then it fades into and amped up feeling like that of methamphetamine. When a person snorts this drug the effects can last for up to two days. When they smoke it, the effect usually last for a few hours before the person is able to go to sleep.

This new line of drugs is very addictive and there have been many people who have suffered from ill effects from using it. It has been known to cause the following effects:

• · Paranoia
• · Lack of desire for sleep
• · Increased energy
• · Increased sex drive
• · Delusions
• · Lack of desire for food
• · Hallucinations
• · Suicidal thoughts
• · Altered vision
• · Changes in personality
• · Increased or rapid heart beat
• · Heart palpitations
• · Possible kidney failure
• · Death

One of the main problems with this drug is that when someone uses it, it causes them to stay awake for up to days at a time. It also diminishes hunger at the same time so the person does not feel the need to perform two very vital actions for survival; eating and sleeping. When a person goes for a long time without food or sleep for any reason it is bound to cause physical and mental implications. There have been quite a few people who have become delusional from using these drugs and there also have been people who have committed suicide after taking bath salts. Apparently suicidal thoughts that a person may suffer from as a result of using these bath salts do not necessarily go away right after the person comes off of the drug. The same goes for delusional thinking. There was one man who came off of bath salts who was suffering from paranoid delusions who continued to do so for up to three months after he had come off of the drug. These delusions eventually went away after the man finished the Narconon New Life Detoxification program. He did the entire Narconon program and is doing quite well now, but it took a lot of time and effort for him to get to the point where he was able to think rationally again after coming off a long binge of bath salts.

Bath salts are very addictive and the nature of the addiction is very scary. It is possible to buy these products in most head shops, in some gas stations, and even online stores sell them. Because there is no legal recourse for possession of these drugs, and no way to test if a person took them, there is nothing that law enforcement can do to stop someone from using them. The only thing that is possible and some officers have done with people who were under the influence of this drug, was to commit them to a mental hospital because they were obviously a danger to themselves and others while they were on this drug. Because the effects of the drug can last for such a very long time, people that have become addicted to them and suffered delusions as a result can continue to be a threat to themselves and others for a very long time.

What Can Be Done?

There is not a whole lot that the government can do right now to stop the use of these drugs. A few efforts have been made to outlaw some of the key ingredients in some of the particular brands, but the only thing that has to be done to get around those laws is for chemist to change the formulation of the product by one or two ingredients, and they don’t have to change them by much for the new ingredients to be considered a different chemical. The slight alteration of these chemicals does not change the effects of the drug all that much. In this way it is very easy for manufacturers to stay one step ahead of the game thus far as far as keeping these drugs legal.

Increasing public awareness about the dangers of these drugs is the best solution for the moment. The only other thing that can be done is for the federal government to make an all-encompassing law that makes the use of these drugs completely illegal in all states. Until that happens, anyone that knows of the dangers of these drugs needs to tell as many people as they can.

If you or a loved one is suffering from an addiction to bath salts or any other designer drug, please call Narconon of Georgia today. Narconon, including Narconon Arrowhead, is one of the most effective treatment centers for this type of addiction. Kind and compassionate counselors are always available to answer any questions you may have.

Before, when a person got a prescription for hydrocodone, the medication that they would pick up was always mixed with some other non-opiate pain killer such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. This would lessen the amount of hydrocodone that was needed to produce the desired amount of reduction in pain.

Drug companies are trying to get approval for medications that are pure hydrocodone. The first one that is supposed to be released is to be called Zohydro. It is supposed to be ten times as strong as other medications that consist of hydrocodone, which means it is also going to be much more addictive.

Hydrocodone falls into the family of drugs that is known as opiates. Other drugs that fall into this category are heroin, morphine, codeine, methadone, and oxycodone. Opiates are very effective in reducing and eliminating pain, while they also cause feelings of well-being and euphoria. Opiates cause the user to feel very good while eliminating pain, but they have a high risk of becoming addictive to the user.

Opiate Addiction

Opiate addiction is one of the most serious addictions that a person can suffer from because the addiction affects the mind and the body quite dramatically. When a person uses opiates, they work in a way that is very similar to natural chemicals that the brain produces when the person does something that is healthy. Endorphins are actually a naturally occurring chemical that work the same way that other opiates work that the body produces whenever a person eats a big meal, has sex or exercises. Because opiates use the same pathways as other reward chemicals that the brain produces, it is very addictive in a way that affects a person’s mood when they are coming off of it. Research suggests that the brain of an opiate addict stops producing as high levels of natural feel good chemicals in the brain when a person is using opiates so that when the person stops using them they are lacking both the drugs in their brain to make them feel good as well as the natural feel good chemicals which can cause an immediate and severe depression as well as anxiety.

In addition to this, opiates are very physically habit forming as well. When a person has used opiates over a certain period of time and then they stop they will suffer from physical withdrawal. The withdrawal symptoms of opiate cessation are as follows:

• · Nausea
• · Vomiting
• · Cold and hot sweats
• · Nervousness
• · Anxiety
• · Depression
• · Panic attacks
• · In some cases severe aches and pains
• · Flu like symptoms
• · Headache
• · Back ache
• · Restless leg syndrome
• · General malaise
• · Insomnia
• · Sneezing
• · Diarrhea
• · Chills

The immediate withdrawal symptoms listed above usually last about a week, usually peeking after about three days after the person quits using. There are many long term withdrawal effects that person can suffer from for a very long time. Some of these symptoms include:

• · unusual feelings of weakness and fatigue, especially if proper rest is not obtained
• · problems sleeping regularly
• · depression
• · anxiety
• · muscle aches that come and go at were not there before a person became addicted to opiates
• · physical and mental cravings of opiates
• · obsession with using more opiates
• · feelings of hopelessness that one will never be able to obtain happiness and feelings of normalcy again without opiates

Some of these symptoms can persist for even years after the person has quit using. They can make it very difficult for person to maintain their sobriety to opiates because they last for such a long time. There are many people who give up and decide that they are going to simply use opiates for the rest of their life because they get to a point where they really feel that they will be miserable without them, and that the actual quality of their life will be hampered by staying away from opiates.

Successful Sobriety with Narconon

It is very easily seen when reading some of the Narconon Reviews that were written by former opiate addicts that went through the Narconon program that there is hope. Narconon is the only program in the world that addresses the long term physical effects of opiate withdrawal. According to Narconon, one of the reasons that a person might experience withdrawal symptoms for such a long time after they quite using is because some of the drug metabolites that are produced by the body when a person uses the drug are absorbed into the fatty tissue and stay stored there for up to many years after the person quits using. While there they have the potential to cause very severe cravings. The Narconon New Life Detoxification program addresses this issue in a way that is non-invasive and very effective. Many recovering opiate addicts have said that this part of the program saved their life. They also said that they were able to regain the way that they felt before they ever used opiates; they felt good naturally again, mentally and physically

The rest of the program consists of a series of self-cognitive and life building skills courses that address the underlying social and emotional reasons that the recovering addict suffers from that lead the person to use in the first place. People who are vulnerable to addiction are so because they do not possess the tools and emotional skills needed to handle life and all the ups and downs that go along with it. They learn these skills at Narconon as well as deal with painful issues from the past that were continuously keeping them down because they were still upsetting the person. Once the person has come to terms with these issues as well as learn the rules to the game of life, they are able to become responsible for themselves and their own life once again.

Narconon has success rate of seventy-six percent which is one of the highest in the world.

If you or a loved one is looking for help recovering from opiate addiction please call Narconon today. Narconon is absolutely one of the best programs available for opiate addiction and there are empathetic counselors available all day, every day.

William Benitez - Founder

Narconon is non-traditional rehab that was started in 1966 by a man named William Benitez. Willy (as his friends called him) had been a heroin addict since the time he was in his late teens. He, like many other kids, started off smoking pot when he was twelve years of age. By the time he was seventeen he was a full blown heroin addict and started his career of going in and out of the prison system.

Every time Willy would go to prison he would try to figure out a way to overcome or control his addiction. Every time he was released he would go strait back to using drugs. The last time that Willy went to prison, he told the judge to please give him a chance because he was going to find a way to overcome his addiction and live the life that he was meant to live. The judge believed him, or maybe it was just because it was right around Christmas time, but for whatever the cause, he only sentenced Willy to the minimum amount of time that was called for in regards to crime that had been committed.

When Willy was in the holding cell waiting to be put in with the general population, a friend of his brought him a collection of books to read to help pass the time. In this collection there was book by the name of Fundamentals of Thought by L. Ron Hubbard. It was book of a self help nature and Willy began to read it. The nature of the book was to help an individual regain the abilities needed to get along in life successfully. Willy realized at this point that this was the answer to help him to overcome his addiction.

Willy came up with the concept, which later became the basis of the Narconon program, that addiction is nothing more than a disability. What Willy meant by this was that someone who is an addict is so because they do not have the abilities that are needed to succeed in the game of life. He said it was an awful lot like someone trying to play a basket ball game but not knowing the rules. They might see how other people are doing it, and try to mimic others actions, but until they really know what they are doing, they are going to mess up the game for themselves and everyone else on their team. They might start shooting goals for the other team or passing the ball to the other team. The people on their team are going to get really upset with this, and because the person does not know the rules they are not even going to understand why.

Willy studied Fundamentals of Thought and did the exercises that were contained therein everyday for a few months. When he got to the point where he really knew what he was doing, he then decided to start a drug rehab based off of what he had learned within the prison walls. He called this program Narconon, meaning narcotics none. Narconon has now grown into a world wide network of some of the most successful facilities in the world.

The Narconon Program

The point of the Narconon program is to teach a person the life skills that they need to succeed in life. Willy Benitez said that if you rehabiliate a persons ability to live life successfully you eradicate the persons need for drugs. People use drugs not because they are born as an addict, they use drugs because they are unhappy with a situation in their life that they feel that they do not have any power to do anything about. Addicts are often sad or unhappy with their life because they do not know how to fix their problems. There are current studies that say that magic mushrooms could treat depression, but until a person gets to the bottom of why they are depressed and how to fix these problems, anything else is just a band aid.

The Narconon program is a collection of self-cognitive courses that are aimed at teaching a person the social and coping skills that a person needs to succeed in life drug free. There are eight books in the Narconon program. People who attend the Narconon program are not called patients or addicts, they are called students and they are learning the tools needed for life. Below is a list of the phases and books that the Narconon program is made up of.

• · Book one is a very simple basic communication course. This course teaches a person how to communicate and also teaches a person to a light degree how to keep control over their own emotions and channel them in a positive way. Being able to maintain control over ones emotions will help the person to succeed in the rest of the program
• · Book two is the Narconon New Life Detoxification Course. It is a natural regimen of vitamins and minerals combined with sweating in a dry heat sauna. This helps the person to rid their body of all drug metabolites and other toxins that may have become stored in the perons fatty tissue and could be causing them discomfort. People who finished this part of the program said that once done they felt better than they had since they were children.
• · Book three is a basic learning course that teaches a person how to study so that they are really able to understand and use the information that they are studying as opposed to just memorizing facts to pass a test.
• · Book Four is a more involved version of book one. It teaches a person how to control their emotions and learn how to confront uncomfortable situation and their own negative emotions in calm manner. It also helps the person to get out of being stuck in their own thoughts and the problems of the past and to just deal with the present.
• · Book five teaches the person how to recognize social and antisocial personalities. It teaches the person how to deal with negative people in a positive way so that the person is not able to bring them down. It also helps the person decided who their friends really are and which people are going to be of benefit to be around and which people are only going to hurt them.
• · Book six is where the person takes a look at their own wrong doings and takes responsibility in such a way that they are not blaming others while at the same time getting the load of guilt that they have been carrying around by themselves off of their shoulders. This book is similar to the personal inventory that someone would do in a twelve steps program
• · Book seven helps the person take a look at every aspect of their life and figure out what needs to be done to improve this area of their life and how to make up the damage that was done from their past misdeeds and drug use. It gives them the tools that they need to continue to improve their life from here on out
• · Book eight is a basic moral reminder course. This course teaches the person basic day to day morals to live by that will ensure their success and happiness.

The last thing that a person does in the Narconon program is make a solid plan of what they are going to do when they get home, such as where they are going to live to ensure their sobriety. At this stage, sometimes the person decides that they want to stay on and train and help others overcome their addictions to drugs or alcohol.

Narconon drug rehab has a seventy-six percent success rate. If you or a loved one need help, call Narconon of Georgia today. Informative and understanding counselors are waiting to answer any questions you may have.

Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol can be a very tricky addiction because it is such a socially acceptable activity. People who are alcoholics are certainly not embraced in American culture usually, but drinking alcohol itself very much is. Alcohol is available at almost every store or restaurant that a person goes in. This would be like a pot head trying to quit smoking pot but living in a society where everywhere one turns there are marijuana dispensaries. This is not to compare pot addiction to alcohol addiction, because obviously alcoholism is a much more serious addiction with many more physically and mentally debilitating effects, this is only to compare situations.

Because alcohol is so readily available, as well as legal, it can be a very hard drug to quit using. This is also because alcohol is a very physically addictive drugs as well; alcohol cessation being one of the most dangerous withdrawal periods that person can go through. This does not mean that person cannot quit using alcohol, it just means that an alcoholic needs to go through some very intensive treatment that will make it as easy for them as possible.

Narconon Treatment

Narconon alcohol treatment approaches alcohol addiction by teaching the person that is addicted to the alcohol the tools and abilities that they need to live life in a successful way. It is kind of like teaching a person who does not know how to play basketball the rules. If a person tries to play basketball and they do not know the rules of the court they can really fudge up the game and make a lot of people angry at them. They might look and see what everybody else is doing and try to do what they are doing, but if they don’t have the rulebook they might start making baskets for the opposing team. This is the same way that it is with alcoholics and addicts; they don’t know the rules of life and so they do not know how to win. Not only that, they do not understand why they keep losing. It is not that people who have addiction problems are usually bad people, in reality they really just have no idea of what they are doing.

That is where Narconon comes in. Narconon is a series of self-cognitive and life skills building courses that teaches the alcoholic or addict the rules and tools that they need to live life in a successful manner. When the person gets to the point where they are really able to live well and thrive all by their own doing, the need for drugs is gone. The person is so happy with themselves and what they are able to accomplish they feel naturally way better sober. One graduate of the Narconon program said “I feel better now in my worst moments of being sober than I did at my best moments of getting high. I am now in control of my own life and my own destiny. No one in my family has to take responsibility for me or my life anymore because I am able to do it myself and that is the best feeling in the world. Not only that, but I am now able to help out my family with THEIR problems sometimes and that feels even better!”

That is the whole goal of the Narconon program. Narconon teaches a person how to take responsibility for themselves instead of looking to others for help them out of trouble all the time. This can be very freeing for the addict, and especially liberating for the people that care about the addict or alcoholic. The person is no longer a liability to their family, but actually a person that can contribute.

Narconon is an individualized program with a seventy-six percent success rate which is one of the very highest success rates in the world. Narconon is not a twenty-eight day program; a person finishes the program at their own rate of time. The program, on average, usually takes two and a half to six months to finish. The Narconon program is a private program and does accept most insurance. If you or a loved one needs help for alcohol addiction, or any other type of substance abuse addiction, please call today. Understanding and compassionate counselors are waiting to take your call.

Bath Salts or Reformulated Powders

One of the most popular on the designer drug market is a drug that was sold as bath salts or plant food. It is now labeled as reformulated powders and is always labeled “not for human consumption” which prevents many regulations that would otherwise be put on it. There are many brands of “reformulated powders” that one can buy, each one causing a slightly different effect. These drugs are made to imitate the effects of cocaine or methamphetamine or both. Many people who have used them say that the initial feeling that one gets when they first use the drug is very similar to cocaine and it fades into a more meth like feeling later. The effects of the drug usually last for about twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Some people smoke it, which makes its effects last for a much shorter period of time and the effects that it causes in this way are similar to that of crack cocaine in it usually gives the person a body rush.

This drug is not illegal, nor is it detectable on a drug screen. This makes it attractive to drug users who need to pass drug tests on a regular basis. People who fall into this category often have jobs where being high would be dangerous, like air-line pilots or members of the military. Who wants someone to fly to plane that they are on who has been using drugs?

These drugs are extremely addictive and there have been many people who have become quite delusional while using these powders. The reason for this is because when a person uses these powders, it usually prevents them from having the desire to eat or sleep. The human mind is not setup to maintain sanity without proper rest or nutrition. There have been many arrests and cases of people becoming institutionalized while under the influence of these drugs. The police cannot really hold them for any period of time or at least not for drug possession because the drugs that they are using are not illegal. There have also been cases of people overdosing and dying from these drugs as well. There is no way to tell what is actually in these powders and this has proven to be a real problem.

Spice

Another popular designer drug is one that is known as Spice. Spice is sold as herbal incense and is also labeled as not for human consumption. It is an herbal blend that is sprayed with a blend of synthetic cannabinoids. There are many types of cannabinoids and some of them such as THC, cause a person to get high. Most people who smoke Spice say that the effect is very similar to that of marijuana; however there are some folks who have had some really bad reactions from these herbal incenses. Some experts believe that this because there is a chemical in natural marijuana that acts as an anti-psychotic and prevents this type reaction from happening from THC. The synthetic blends do not contain this chemical so the psychoactive effects of the drug have nothing to balance them out and the person can become much higher than they would from natural marijuana. This is up for speculation however, because some of the effects are so drastic. There have been people who have smoked Spice and then felt like they were unable to breathe; they could not get the smoke out of their lungs. Some of them suffered from severe hallucinations and altered vision. Many of them experienced an increased heart beat to the point where they felt like their heart was going to beat right out of their chest. Some of the people found that they were unable to gather their thoughts enough to speak rationally and would repeat the same words over and over and over again. A few people were rushed to the hospital and one mother said that her son had to have his heart restarted several times after smoking Spice.

Drug Education

The program Narconon schools, parents and other authority figures really need to become educated about the dangers of these drugs and all drugs so they are more able to educate our youth. Kids need to hear the true dangers of drugs and what the downsides are before they ever decide to experiment with them. It is especially important for parents to open up a line of communication with their kids about drugs and in way that the child feels that they can come to their parents openly and unafraid with any questions they may have. Kids also need to learn about what type personalities they should surround themselves with so that they never have to suffer from binge drinking influenced by romantic partners. “Show me your friends and I will show you your future,” is a line that comes to mind. It is also shown that they more quality time that parents are able to spend with their kids, the less likely the kids are to start using drugs. These kids were more worried about disappointing their parents than other children who did not have such a close bond with their parents were.

Narconon has many resources of information designed to help parents with this difficult topic. There are many videos and pamphlets available via the net through Narconon websites. Narconon counselors are also available twenty-four hours a day seven days a week ready to answer any questions that parents may have. Most Narconon counselors up to date on all the drugs that people are currently having problems with these days. Please don’t hesitate to call with any questions.

Designer drugs are attractive to people who get drug tested or who are afraid of getting arrested for possession of illegal drugs but still want to get high. For this reason there are many people who use them who have jobs where random drug screenings are mandatory. Because these drugs have no chemicals in them that are illegal, they do not show up in drug tests. There are many professionals such as people in the military or even airline pilots who have turned to designer drugs as an alternative to illegal drugs since they are able to use them and still pass random drug screens. It is definitely starting to be shown how dangerous some of these drugs are and what a terrible effect they can have on the minds of people using them.

Bath Salts, Is it the Start of a New Epidemic?

One of the latest designer drugs that has gained a very scary amount of popularity recently is supposed to act as a meth and cocaine replacement. It is labeled as bath salts or plant food and is sold in many head shops and gas stations. There are many different brands that these drugs are available in, with each one having a slightly different effect. If one goes on the internet and looks up bath salts, there a many personal stories about people’s different experiences with them. One thing is for certain however, and that is that these drugs can be very addictive for the person that is using them. The effects of most of these drugs are of a stimulant nature. The beginning stage of the high that the person experiences is apparently very similar to the high one experiences while on cocaine. Once this part of the high wears off the rest of the high is similar to that of a methamphetamine high. The person that is using the drug will often be unable to sleep for two to three days sometimes after just using a single dose. Some people enjoy the first part of the high more than the second part of the high, so they continue to use more and more of the drug to maintain the cocaine like feeling that they first experienced. When someone gets into a pattern like this, they will often stay up for days and days at a time. There was one man who said that he used so much of the drug that he did not sleep for almost a whole month while he was on it.

No matter what drug a person is using, if it keeps them up for days at a time, the person is certainly going to be effected mentally. People who use bath salts on a habitual basis have been found to often suffer from hallucinations and delusions. Many of them do not eat very often in addition to the lack of sleep that someone on this drug experiences. Anytime a person goes for a long time without proper rest or nutrition they are liable to suffer mentally. There may also be some other way that this drug affects a person’s brain in addition to the delusions and hallucinations that come from the lack of food and sleep. There have been cases where people have come off of the drug and continued to have distorted vision for months after, even after they had gotten on a proper food and sleep schedule. It has been shown that the Narconon New Life Detoxification program was very beneficial for those people who suffered from this problem.

Spice

The other designer drug that has gained a lot of popularity recently is known as Spice. Synthetic marijuana use, or the use of Spice has even become popular amongst some teens. Spice is a herbal mixture that is sprayed with synthetic cannabinoids and is supposed to effect a person in a way that is similar to that of marijuana. Many people say that the feeling is very similar to that of pot, but there have been quite a few people who said that out of the blue they had an experience that was very different than that of marijuana. These cases seem to share some similarity in symptoms. Below is a list of some of what happened to these people.

• · Difficulty breathing
• · Feelings of suffocation
• · Distortion of size perception
• · Hallucinations
• · Feelings of impending doom or death
• · Feelings of inability to expel “Spice” smoke from the lungs
• · Inability to speak properly
• · Repeating various words over and over again
• · High blood pressure and rapid heart rate
• · Heart palpitations

Not everyone who smoked Spice had this reaction, but for most of the ones who did, it was enough to make them decide that they never wanted to use the drug again. Many of them warned other people that Spice was a very dangerous drug and they did not recommend anyone smoking it ever.

The biggest problem with these drugs is that they are so easily accessible and even teens are using them. Many parents have never heard of these drugs and so they do not have the proper information to give to their teen in regards to the dangers of them. There has also not been enough research done to determine what the long term effects of these drugs are because they just have not been out for long enough. Parents really need to precaution their children about these drugs, because at best they can cause a person to suffer from delusions and at worst they may be very hazardous to a person’s health. There are many Narconon reviews and other reviews concerning these drugs on the net that are worth reading.

This does not mean that parents need to have less concern over their child using drugs and alcohol. The fact of the matter is that as a country, we are not yet in the clear. We still need to show vigilance and dedication in the education of our youth to the dangers of drugs and alcohol.

Prescription Medication

Although the use of illegal drugs, smoking, and drinking is down these days, the usage of prescription drugs in teens is actually quite elevated. Many teens these days are using drugs that they get out of their own household medicine cabinets to get a buzz. They often do this because they feel there is less danger in getting high from something that is labeled as “medicine’ as opposed to getting illegal drugs off of the streets. The fact of the matter is that most of the drugs that one finds one the street started their careers off as “medications” as well. Drugs are designed to make a person feel temporarily better, whether or not one gets them off the street or from their local drug store. Because these teens feel that these drugs are safe, they often do not bother to read the warning labels and also see what interactions one particular drug may have with another drug. This is a very dangerous practice, but teens are not just leaving it at that.

There is a very scary new kind of party that many teens are participating in these days as well. It is called a pharm party because the main attraction at the party is pharmaceuticals. Teens go “pharming” which means that they raid the medicine cabinets in there homes and get whatever drugs that they possibly can get that may cause them to get high. They then bring these drugs to the party and combine them with all the other drugs that the other people at the party may have brought in a big bowl or bag and mix them all together. People then randomly reach in and grab a small handful of pills and pop whatever pills that they got down the hatch. They often have no idea what kind of pills that they just took and no idea what kind of effect it is going to have on them.

Some of these kids probably get high out of their minds and then some kids probably just feel sick after taking whatever mixture of pills that they took. The problem is that many of these drugs do not mix well with each other and these kids are really putting themselves in danger taking them and having almost no idea what they just took. There have been quite a few cases of kids getting really sick and having to go to the hospital and a couple of unfortunate teens have died this way. The parents of one young man who died this way had no idea that their child was even on drugs. They were completely shocked that their son had died from a drug overdose because they just thought he was a normal kid who did normal kid stuff. The problem is that in our over medicated society, taking prescription drugs is not that out of the norm.

Designer Drugs

Another line of drugs that is gaining popularity these days is what is known as designer drugs. Designer drugs are drugs that are legal that are meant to mimic the effect of another drug that is illegal. These days there are two types of designer drugs that have gained a lot of popularity amongst our youth these days. The first of these drugs is synthetic marijuana. It is an herbal compound that is sprayed with what is known as synthetic cannabinoids. The effects are supposed to be very similar to those of marijuana but some people have experienced some very nasty side effects from these drugs. The side effects that many people experienced and came upon them suddenly where as follows:

• Feelings of panic
• Feeling an inability to breath
• Feelings of an inability to expel all the smoke from Spice out of their lungs
• Extremely elevated heart rate
• Distorted size perception
• Distorted sense of direction
• Loss of sense of identity
• Inability to speak coherently
• Repeating words or phrases over and over again
• Loss of coordination in limbs

One woman said that she took her son to the hospital after he used Spice and she said that his heart had to be restarted twice while there.

The other designer drugs that many people are using are known as bath salts and mimic the effects of cocaine and methamphetamines. These are VERY addictive and quite a few people have suffered constant hallucinations and delusions after long term usage. The reason for this is because when someone is using these drugs they often go without sleep or food for days at a time. Even when many people are off of these drugs for long periods of time they still suffer from delusions and hallucinations. The Narconon New Life Detoxification program has been shown to help some individuals be freed from their hallucinations and delusions caused by these drugs. Not enough data has been gathered as to the long term effects of these drugs because they have not been out for long enough. If you or someone you know has a problem with addiction to any of the drugs listed above or any drugs at all please contact your local Narconon center right away. There are centers located all over the world, from Narconon Arrowhead in Oklahoma to many Narconons all over Europe. Counselors are available twenty-four hours a day seven days a week via e-mail or telephone.

JP’s Early Childhood

JP says that he grew up in great family. He had two brothers and two sisters and very good parents. He said that although his family did not have a whole lot of money, mostly because the family was pretty large, everyone was very close and they always participated in family activities together. He said that his mom stayed at home to make sure that everyone was taken care of and his dad was a very attentive father. JP did well in school and had a lot of friends. He played baseball and football for all of his childhood and even football for his high school team as well. He said that he would drink occasionally in high school, but sports kept him away from using any drugs heavily. His senior year of high school JP got injured playing football and was taken out for the rest of the season.

When JP went to college, he decided that he did not want to play football anymore even though his injury was completely healed. He continued to do well in his classes, but he said that he began to party really hard, along with most of the other students of the school he went to. He said that overdrinking was a part of the college life. He said people were always drinking at parties and parties would start on Thursday night some weeks. He said although there was plenty of college alcohol hazing that went on, he never really experienced that because he never had the need to join one of the fraternities.

While JP was in college he began to experiment with things other than alcohol as well. He said that college was the first place he ever smoked marijuana and also the first place that he ever tried much harder drugs. He said that he hung out with a lot of different people at college and many of them used drugs.

Meth, which was the drug that JP eventually became very addicted to, was something that he and many of his friends used to stay up and study for tests. He said that a lot of college kids his age did that and it was not unknown for many people to snort a little meth right before a test as well. He said that he and his friends felt like the drug woke them up enough be able concentrate better.

JP Becomes a Drug Addict

JP said that at first he did not really care about the way that the drug made him feel. He said that when he first started using it, he was not really focused on getting high. He said he would just do a little bit to keep him awake all night to study. He said that he was so focused on whatever he was studying; he did not really have time to focus his energy on enjoying his buzz. He said that he noticed that he was amped up and had plenty of energy and felt pretty good, but that wasn’t was he was looking for at the time.

JP said that after a while he started using meth when he was not studying for a test. He said that he also would occasionally use coke as well, but he liked meth better because it kept him high for so much longer. He said that he started hanging out with a bunch of people who hit the local club scene regularly and that was when his drug problem began to get really bad. He said that he and his friends would go to a club on Friday and Saturday night and start partying and continue to do so often until Sunday evening. He said sometimes he would do so much meth or coke or even ecstasy that he would not sleep all weekend until Sunday. He said that he would be so exhausted that a couple times he slept through his Monday morning classes. He said he really wanted to keep his grades up and maintain a party life style at the same time, but he was unable to do so. He said after a while drugs just began to consume all of his waking activities, and especially meth. He said that within a matter of months he was failing all of his classes and decided that he would drop out for a semester or two to try to get himself sober and together. He said instead of getting sober, he started selling meth. He said that he just became overwhelmed with his addiction and was unable to quit. His family thought for a while that he was still going to school when he wasn’t. One of his friends finally called his mom and told her what JP was up to. She begged JP to come home and get help, but he knew he wasn’t ready. He said that used and sold meth for another two years.

JP Gets Arrested and Gets Help

JP said that he was able to support his habit for two years selling meth. He said he got involved with a couple of cooks and for a while was able to make quit a bit of money. He said that after a while he started messing up though. He was hardly sleeping and was constantly paranoid. Eventually he got caught however, despite trying to take precautions all the time. He sold drugs to an undercover cop and went to jail. At first he refused to call his family for help. He said he tried to call a couple of his friends to bail him out, but nobody did. He said one girl said that she would but she never showed up. After being sober for two weeks, JP finally called his family and explained what happened. He asked his parents to find a rehab because he knew he could not stay clean on his own.

His parents found Narconon and then bailed JP out of jail so he could attend the program. JP has been sober for two years at this point and says he knows he will never use meth again. He got a reduced sentence for his charges since it was his first offense and he went through rehab. He got no jail time and was on probation for two years, one reporting and one non-reporting. He also had to do five hundred hours of community service. JP said that Narconon was the best thing that ever happened to him.

The reason that some people have the power to control their drinking and some do not is not known definitively. There are many speculations as to why this happens to some and not to others. Some say it is genetic, some say it is due to environmental factors, some say it is simply due to a lack of self control. Studies are constantly being done as to why this happens, there are even researchers breeding alcoholic mice to study alcoholism to find answers.

Why Do People Start Drinking?

There are many reasons why people begin drinking. These reasons are often social in nature to begin with. Most people try alcohol while they are in high school. Over two thirds of high school students have tried drinking to the point of intoxication by the time they graduate. Experimenting with drinking and drugs in high school, and for some kids even in middle school, is unfortunately, not that uncommon of an occurrence.

Some of the people who try alcohol don’t like it, some like it but not to the point where it becomes out of control for them, and for others, drinking soon becomes an obsession that blocks out most of their priorities. Again the reasons for this are not known.

It is known that alcoholism is a form of addiction however. Addiction usually occurs in people who are trying to numb out some type of pain, be it physical or emotional. Once addiction takes over, it can be very hard for the person to get a point where they feel life is worth living without the drugs or the alcohol that they are used to using. Alcoholism is one of the most physically and mentally debilitating addictions that person can face. There are very few true functioning alcoholics. The longer the person drinks and does not face the issues that they need to in order to stop, usually the worse their addiction becomes. It usually takes some type of outside factor or circumstance for the person to realize that they have a problem that they need to handle as far as their drinking goes.

Alcoholism is Physical Debilitating

There are many physical problems that alcoholics face when they become physically addicted to alcohol, withdrawal not being the least of their problems. Alcoholics often have a tendency to become very vitamin and nutrient deficient over the course of their drinking. There are a few reasons for this. The first one is that alcohol often acts as an appetite suppressant because it is filled with many worthless calories. Alcoholics will sometimes drink when they actually have the urge to eat. Once they drink they no longer feel any urge to eat, they will often continue to drink in large amounts and these binges can sometimes go on for days at a time. This often leads to nutritional deficiencies because the person is not taking in adequate amounts of nutrients through the consumption of food.

The other thing that happens that causes nutritional deficiencies is that alcohol actually burns up a persons vitamins when they drink. This is especially true of the vitamin B1. B1 is a vitamin that is not naturally produced by the body and it is also water soluble. This means that a person needs to eat or take supplements containing B1 every day to have enough in their system. B1 is very important for proper brain function and many alcoholics become either temporarily or permanently brain damaged from lack of this nutrient. When this happens the proper treatment is actually just giving B1 supplements to the person. This often helps, but sometimes treatment comes too late and the person may be permanently affected forever.

Another area of the body that is commonly injured by excesses alcohol intake is the liver. There are many people who are suffering from alcoholic liver disease and it is one of the number one preventable diseases that people die from every year. There are three stages to alcoholic liver disease and the first two of them are actually reversible with the only treatment needed usually is for the person to stop drinking alcohol. The fact of the matter is that there are many alcoholics who do not quit drinking before they get to stage three of this disease, which is cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis is when scar tissue begins to form on the liver and this is not reversible. It will become eventually fatal for the person unless they receive a liver transplant.

Liver transplants can either be given by a living donor or a person who has recently died. There are many people who are on waiting lists to receive a liver and many people die before they ever receive one. Many doctors are actually reluctant to perform this type of surgery on an alcoholic because they feel there is such a high chance that the person will just damage their new liver the way they did with their old one.

Treatment

Obviously, the sooner a person who is suffering from alcoholism gets treatment and stops drinking, the better. It is often very difficult for alcoholics to do so because not all the issues that they face with their alcoholism are treated in traditional addiction programs.

The Narconon program addresses the physical aspect of the alcoholic’s addiction and helps the person get their body back to feeling as good as it did before they started drinking. Many alcoholics continue to drink to excess because they just do not feel well when they are not drunk. Many people who finished the Narconon program said that they physically felt better than they had since they were small children.

Once the person deals with the physical aspect of their addiction, they then go on to deal with the emotional issues and why they got started drinking in the first place. They learn the necessary life tools that they need to function on a day to day basis as a healthy, productive and sober member of society. The Narconon program has a seventy six percent success rate, which is one of the highest success rates in the country. There are Narconon centers all over the world from Narconon Arrowhead to Narconon Johannesburg, so finding one near to you will not be a problem. Counselors are available by phone or email twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

Greg’s Early Childhood

Greg said that when he was growing up, he was involved in every type of activity that a kid could be involved in. He took music lessons, as well as played sports. He was a part of his youth group and he went to a very nice private Christian school with a bunch of other kids that lived lives that were also very sheltered. Greg said that one of his favorite activities that he did after school was playing volleyball. He was very good at it also. He became so involved with his volleyball team, that after a while his parents conceded to letting him drop some of his other afterschool activities. He played volley ball all the way up throughout high school. He was very good at it and even had scouts for pro volleyball teams looking at him.

The other thing that Greg also stayed heavily involved in was his youth group at his church. He even taught vacation bible school classes to younger kids when he was in high school. Greg was very popular in his town and had a lot of friends at school. He grew up with the same group of well to do kids for his entire childhood. He never tried drugs or even alcohol until he went to college.

The College Life

The first year of college was very hard on Greg. He went to a very good college about four hours away from his home town. When he got there, he did not know anyone and he felt too unsure of himself in his new surroundings to be able to make a lot of new friends. He said that his first year at college was one of the hardest and most lonely times that he has ever had in his entire life. That is why in his second year, when a fraternity took an interest in Greg, he did anything he could to make the cut. He said he was yearning for the acceptance and brotherhood that the fraternity offered him. He would not go into the hazing rituals that he had to endure, but he did say that they were really tough.

Greg said that was his real first experience with drugs or alcohol. Many of the hazing rituals involved heavy drinking and as was stated before, Greg was willing to do almost anything to be accepted into his fraternity. Once he finally was accepted, he began to party with his house brothers every weekend. All the drugs that he had never tried before, he would now do on the weekends. He did almost every drug that is out there he said, but the ones that he really liked the most were opiates. He said that it was not long before he was suffering from prescription drug abuse aided by online pharmacies. He continued this addiction into graduated school as well. That is until he met a girl that he liked more than he liked drugs. She was really beautiful and really smart, and she said that she was not interested in dating anybody that had any type of addiction to drugs. By this point in time Greg was using a lot of opiates and quitting was going to be no easy task for him. He did it though. It was so hard on him that he had to quit graduate school for a while. His girlfriend, soon to become wife, did graduate however and found a great job in her field. The only thing was that the position was located across the country. Greg did not care, he still wanted to marry her and soon found a good job as well in the same area. The couple moved and by the time they got to their new location, Greg had been sober for about a year.

Greg Does Well and Then Not So Well

Greg was soon making a lot of money at his new job. He worked for an advertising agency and business was booming. It continued to boom for the next two years. Life for Greg and his new bride was great. They had plenty of money and a nice house. Greg and his wife soon got pregnant and within six months after that the economy crashed. So did Greg’s job. His company had to lay him off, but gave him a nice severance check and told him to apply for unemployment. They also said that he could keep his health insurance for the next six months. Greg relapsed soon after the news. He used the insurance that he still had to go doctor shopping. It was not long before his wife found out and sent him to rehab. It was a twenty-eight day program and it did not work. Greg learned to keep his addiction better hidden however. Soon his wife gave birth and he was supposed to take care of their new baby soon afterwards since he no longer had a job. This did not go very well. Soon his wife sent him to another rehab, this time for three months. This rehab did not work either.

Finally his wife had enough. So had his family. Greg had finally run out of options. He researched intensively on the internet for a program that would help him overcome his addiction to prescription drugs for good and when he read enough Narconon reviews, including ones on Narconon Vista Bay, he knew he had found the program for him. He begged his wife for one more chance and told her to please just let him go to one more rehab before she filed for divorce. She conceded and Greg went to Narconon the next day. He now has a job as a counselor there and has been clean for the past two and a half years. His wife and he are very happy and he intends to keep it that way. Narconon, Greg says, saved his marriage, his life.