The holiday season is known to most as a time of joy spent with family and friends. For a heroin addict, the holiday season can be a depressing and lonely time, and those closest to the addict can only pray that help can be found before it is too late.
For the many families of heroin addicts looking for help during the holidays, we hope to offer some relief through education and raising awareness about the opiate epidemic in the US.
The Growing US Heroin Problem
Heroin addiction causes a person to become obsessed with finding and consuming the opiate, even if only to avoid the dreaded withdrawal symptoms which can manifest after abstaining from the drug for too long. According to US Department of Justice’s National Drug Intelligence Center, the amount of pure heroin produced in Mexico remained steadily on the rise, causing heroin availability to skyrocket in the western hemisphere.
“Kids aren’t as afraid of heroin as they once were,” says Robyn Dewhirst, Director of Assessment and Early Intervention at the Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (CADA) for Greater New Orleans. “The impression is that smoking it is no big deal, and the fear of becoming a proverbial junkie is just not there.”
Further, reports indicating that prescription painkillers like OxyContin are acting as gateway substances to heroin has driven the heroin abuse population to new heights amongst previously untouched demographics including wealthy or middle-class Americans.
Helping Someone Addicted to Heroin
An increase of heroin abuse and heroin related overdose among American youth in and outside of major metropolitan areas has parents and anti-drug activitists wondering what they can do to prevent a worsening of the problem.
As is the motto of many drug treatment experts, prevention is the best form of treatment. We can effectively slow the trend of mass heroin abuse and addiction by preventing today’s youth from trying the drug. Substance abuse education and awareness in schools can help prevent heroin use, but drug education also must be practiced in the home. Parents are urged to show their children the results of using heroin and the potential for addiction after just one use.
“Heroin can be addictive from its very first use because it gives the absolute peace that people are seeking,” says CADA’s Robyn Dewhirst. “And after that, people are always seeking that first high. It’s referred to as ‘chasing the dragon,’ or being ‘in the womb’ by addicts. It’s incomparable, when you’re talking to a heroin addict, that first heroin high.”
When heroin addiction takes hold of an individual, their lifestyle soon begins to deteriorate. Narconon Arrowhead is a residential rehabilitation program that helps heroin addicts overcome their addiction using a drug-free and non-traditional approach to handling all aspects of drug abuse. Our long-term, inpatient drug and alcohol treatment center achieves a success rate of over 70% for permanent recovery from drugs.
Looking for answers to heroin addiction during the holiday season can be especially difficult, emotionally and otherwise.“Heroin addiction is infamously one of the toughest addictions to beat,” says Derry Hallmark, Senior Director For Expansion at Narconon Arrowhead. “But with the right level rehabilitation, it can be fully overcome.”
For more information on Narconon Arrowhead or to get help for someone you love that is struggling with heroin abuse, contact us today by calling 1-800-468-6933.