Using Drugs to Handle Drug Addiction. Where’s the Logic in That?

Doctor visit, question mark


Here’s a question: if a small fire started in your house and a bucket of water and a can of petrol were sitting nearby, which one would you grab and use to put out the fire?

Well, unless you’re a pyromaniac or have the IQ of a gnat, you’d use water, right?

Now here’s another question: if your friend had a migraine and you wanted to help him get rid of it, would you hit him over the head with a cricket bat?

Well, if you did that, instead of just getting rid of his headache, you might also get rid of your friend altogether!

So we’ll say that ‘no’ is the correct answer to that one.

OK, so while we’re in quiz mode, the third question for tonight’s star prize is this:

If you were trying to get off drugs (I mean, you’re completely hooked, your life is down the toilet, and you wish you could be truly drug-free – not ‘less addicted’ or some such notion, but actually free of cravings for any drugs) would you take another potentially harmful and even more addictive drug to try to come off the drug(s) you’re addicted to?

The correct answer is as easy to figure out as in the first two questions, which is, of course, that it would make no sense to substitute one drug for another. Otherwise, you’d just go round in a vicious circle.

But if the right answer is such a no-brainer, why would it be ‘acceptable practice’ to give an opioid like methadone, for example (which can have serious side effects that include confusion, hallucinations, sexual problems, and possibly addiction), to ‘help’ someone who is addicted to opioids?

Well, I think even a well-meaning person would engage in or support the practice of giving someone potentially harmful drugs to ‘help’ them with their drug or alcohol problem because many believe that drug addiction is incurable and that the best one can do for the drug addict is to at least make him or her ‘a bit more comfortable’, ‘help numb the pain’, ‘ease the agony’, and so forth.

Woman is stressed out

Indeed, I’ve heard some say that addiction treatment is not considered a cure but a way of ‘managing the treatment’ and even that it’s a disease that affects the brain. And while I don’t go along with those propositions, I do know that this debate could go on endlessly.

The one thing that remains an irrefutable fact, however – and one that sticks in my craw – is that opioids are often used as ‘replacement drugs’ for other opioids. (Read, for example, the UK Department of Health’s ‘Drug misuse and dependence – UK guidelines on clinical management’, which talks about ‘choosing an appropriate opioid substitute for dependence on other opioids.’)

Now don’t get me wrong. This is no covert dig at the medical profession, and I’m not trying to suggest that all doctors and nurses are bad or stupid people. They are certainly not – not by a long way.

What I am saying is that regarding drug abuse treatment, whatever your views on drug addiction, how it comes about and so forth, don’t you think it would be ideal to sidestep the ‘drugs for drugs’ stuff altogether and break the vicious cycle by simply having a programme that could successfully handle drug and alcohol addiction without using drugs at all?

Well, no need to reinvent the proverbial wheel because there is one – namely Narconon. The name itself is a coined word meaning ‘no drugs’, and for over 50 years, thousands of people who have gone through the programme have become truly drug-free.

How is this done, you ask? Go through the Narconon site and you’ll find the answers.

You’ll be introduced to:

Sober man
  • All-natural drug-free withdrawal using nutrition and special techniques
  • Sauna detox which flushes out drug residues in the body and eliminates further cravings
  • Exercises that help the person get his attention unstuck from the past and into the present
  • Life Skills courses that include:
    • helping the person spot those in his life who are true friends and those who seek to do him harm
    • helping him confront and atone for any harmful deeds done while under the influence of drugs
    • finding out what condition he is in in different areas of his life and how to improve those conditions and get back in communication with his family, friends, colleagues, and so on

But if you still think that this might all be pie in the sky and that I’m just blowing smoke, then don’t take my word for it; rather, read the many success stories from those who are now drug-free and check out the testimonies from family members who again have their loved ones back. They’re for real!

So I invite you to look for yourself, and being the smart, caring person that you are, the next time someone insists that you use petrol to put out a fire, you might just want to dig out that old cricket bat……



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AUTHOR
NU

Narconon UK

Welcome to Narconon United Kingdom At Narconon, we are dedicated to one thing: helping you overcome addiction for good. Part of what makes this possible is the Narconon environment. Every detail has been taken into account to give you the stability and comfort to help you free yourself from addiction and rebuild your life without drugs.

NARCONON UNITED KINGDOM

DRUG EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION