Opium Addiction

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

Many will try and assert that there is no addiction cure. Usually this is coming from so-called experts who meaning well, have yet seen little or no long term solutions to the problem of addiction and so have labeled it an incurable disease. Nothing could be further from the truth. Addiction is a condition characterized by repeated, compulsive seeking and use of drugs, alcohol, or other substances despite social, mental, and physical consequences. It is an attempt to use the drugs or alcohol to solve life’s problems, with the solution becoming the problem. The cure is the handling of ALL the elements that have lead up to drug abuse and addiction and then continued it – cravings, guilt, and depression playing major roles. It is not just cessation of drug use. It involves the acquiring of a whole array of life skills so that life’s problems can be confronted and one can live life happily and productively – drug free.

As you search for a treatment center for yourself or loved one look for actual tangible results, not just ‘x’ amount of days spent there with little or no results. Also look for all the services you feel will be needed. There is much more to drug rehabilitation than a couple of weeks spent without using! Are medical and nutritional needs being met? Is there a full detoxification of the body available or is it just withdrawal? Are the issues of cravings, quilt, and depression being fully confronted and resolved? Is legal assistance available if needed? Are services available to help repair and reestablish relationships and careers? Are services available to the families of the addict as well to help them better understand and deal with the process of rehabilitation? After all, addiction affects more than the addict. Are skills and abilities being learned to assist the individual in achieving a drug free and productive life that lasts for a lifetime? With the highest long term success rate in the industry Narconon Arrowhead can and does proudly answer yes to all of the above and many more.

If you or a loved one is in the full grip of the downward spiral of addiction, looking to addiction centers can offer information, help, and assistance for an otherwise hopeless situation. Many addiction centers have websites which can be a rich source of information regarding addiction and on specific drugs. Addiction centers have varying philosophies regarding addiction which should be obtainable from their websites as well. The main thing one is looking for when considering any addiction centers should be proven results over an extended period of time.

This may sound obvious but the time for relapse prevention is before the relapse, not after. Too often relapse prevention refers to the next relapse instead of just removing relapse as an issue to begin with. Through 40 years of experience Narconon has discovered and found workable solution to the three causes of relapse – Cravings, guilt, and depression. Make no mistake these are the factors leading to relapse. At Narconon Arrowhead we have a 76% success rate among our graduates. We give the program participants the skills, tools, and abilities to prevent relapse from even getting out of the starting gate.