Home » Nonprofit Articles » As Drug Interdiction Efforts Fail to Curb Methamphetamine Use, Narconon Director Urges Emphasis on Rehabilitation
As Drug Interdiction Efforts Fail to Curb Methamphetamine Use, Narconon Director Urges Emphasis on Rehabilitation
Balloon Theory concept prompts organizations such as Narconon International to do more drug prevention and proper rehabilitation
LOS ANGELES, CA, November 08, 2010 /Nonprofit PR News/ -- Some people call it the "Balloon Theory." Others refer to it as the Displacement Principle. But the idea is the same. If you eliminate one pipeline for illicit drugs, another one is going to open up somewhere else.
This has certainly been true in Midwestern America. Shortly after the new millennium, Midwestern states like rural Illinois and Missouri and adjacent states Oklahoma and Arkansas witnessed large increases in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Any small group of people willing to risk suspicion by purchasing such diverse ingredients as cold medicine, driveway cleaner and iodine plus some glassware used in labs could cook up several ounces of methamphetamine in a couple of days. Recipes were available on the Internet. Many of these labs were set up in rural houses or barns where the stink wouldn't bother anyone. A more enterprising individual could establish a bigger lab and turn out more product.
And of course, where there are drugs being made, there are drugs being sold and consumed and there are drugs causing addiction. Methamphetamine addiction is a particularly bad one. As Bobby Wiggins, Narconon Drug Prevention Specialist, explained, "Not only does methamphetamine act quickly to addict a user, it is terribly damaging to a person's physical and mental health.
"Addicts become malnourished because all they care about is their next fix. They may go a week without sleeping or longer without eating anything healthful. Their skin and hair become rough and may show sores where the addicts has picked at themselves. Some addicts experience severe damage to their teeth and many become paranoid, experiencing hallucinations as well."
As state after state felt the burden of methamphetamine addiction in their Social Services departments, they began to crack down on the availability of ingredients and equipment. Special teams of law enforcement personnel began to arrest meth "cooks" and put the small labs out of business. The number of labs being found plummeted in most states.
So what happened then? Mexican drug traffickers added methamphetamine production to their list of accomplishments and meth became another one of the drugs that these traffickers started bringing over the border. More shipments of precursor drugs started finding their way to Superlabs (as manufacturing facilities making ten or more pounds a day are called) in Mexico or the remote labs run by these cartels in the Central Valley of California.
By 2010, fifty-seven percent of Midwest law enforcement offices cited Mexican methamphetamine as the greatest drug threat in their areas.
"We can't stop trying to eliminate drugs coming into our communities," explained Wiggins. "This action just holds the fort while we get those who are addicted through rehabilitation. True rehabilitation means that an individual can enjoy a productive life and not experience relentless cravings every hour of every day."
Mr. Wiggins stressed that effective rehabilitation must be emphasized for the more than twenty million Americans addicted to drugs or alcohol. He also pointed out that seven out of ten graduates of the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs stay clean and sober after they get home. "When they complete a drug rehabilitation program that truly gives them back their life, they win, the family wins and society wins."
For more information on the Narconon drug rehab and prevention programs, visit www.narconon-news.org.
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Press Release Contact Information:
Bobby Wiggins
Narconon International
Drug Prevention Specialist
4652 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
USA 90027
Voice: 323 962 2404
Website: Visit Our Website |
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