SAVING A PERSON FROM DRUGS CAN ALSO SAVE THEM FROM JAIL TIME

It’s all too common a scenario: a person starts using drugs recreationally with friends on the weekend. Then they start craving the drug between weekends, then the drug use begins to be daily. The cost of the drug habit climbs and the person panics. It’s much more than they can afford. But it feels like a life or death matter to get that bag of heroin, rock of crack cocaine or those OxyContin pills. So after selling off their most valuable possessions, there’s a little theft from the company or the neighbor, or maybe something worse.

 Opiate addicts may find themselves going from doctor to doctor to get enough prescriptions to keep OxyContin or Vicodin on hand, or fraudently hand in false prescriptions. Methamphetamine addicts may commit identity fraud or steal copper pipe from home or businesses.

Whatever the crime, the outcome all too often falls into the same pattern: jail time, legal expenses, a criminal record, probation and fines.

An article by Joseph Califano, President of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, stated that 80 percent the nation’s adult inmates or juvenile arrestees either committed their offenses while high, stealing to buy drugs, violating alcohol or drug laws, or having a history of substance abuse or addiction. It could be concluded that without alcohol or drug abuse and addiction, crime rates could possibly plummet.

“There’s no overnight solution to addiction,” said Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor at Narconon Arrowhead. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “There is no magical solution. Addiction is resolved by helping a person recover from the destructive effects of the drugs. They must come out of the emotional and physical numbness that accompanies addiction, they must experience relief from the terrible cravings, they must learn to make the kinds of decisions that lead to a drug-free life.”

Many people lose their life skills when they are addicted for a long period of time. It normally takes considerably longer than most 28- to 30-day programs for them to build a new drug-free life.

“The Narconon program has successfully been treating addiction for more than forty years,” add Mr. Hallmark. “We have found that a residential, long-term program that directly addresses the cravings, guilt and depression that results from addiction offers the best chance of success. Seven out of ten of our graduates go on to live drug-free lives.”

To find immediate help for someone who is having a problem with any kind of drug or alcohol, contact Narconon’s free addiction consultation and referral helpline at 1-800-468-6933 or visit their website at http://www.stopaddiction.com/. The Narconon program was founded in 1966 by William Benitez in Arizona State prison, and is based on the humanitarian works of L. Ron Hubbard. In more than 80 centers around the world, Narconon programs restore drug and alcohol abusers and addicts to a clean and sober lifestyle.