Want to create a cure for addiction with an 80-98% success rate? Easy-peasy. Just don’t count treatment drop-outs in your statistics-- a fact that numerous programs have capitalized on to sell themselves over the last 50 years. Alternatively, you can only admit addicted doctors to your treatment: but this severely limits your market.
The latest hypesters to use the “don’t count the drop-outs” trick are Hythiam Inc-- promoters of Prometa, a drug cocktail that has generated tons of media attention as the latest miracle cure for cocaine and methamphetamine addiction. We previously covered it here.
This ploy worked well for previous alleged treatment miracles-- going all the way back to Synanon, the “heroin cure” that turned out to be a cult. But nowadays, better research methods make it much more difficult to get away with-- as this report from MSNBC shows. Finally, the media appear to be catching on.
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R O'Connell says:
The National Institute for Drug Abuse (part of the US Dept. of Health) has determined substance abuse to be a chronic and currently incurable brain disorder due at least in part to biochemical imbalance in several areas of the brain.
Safe, effective and affordable detox from opiates with little or no discomfort is available through clinics and private practice M.D.'s in Florida who have completed a certification course on the use of the drug Suboxone. Total detox can generally be achieved in 30 days or less with no need for continued drug therapy.
Any course of action taken to achieve detoxification from opiates for a true "addict" without a lifelong therapeutic program will fail because as with cancer, hypertension, Parkinson's disease, etc. there is currently no cure.
An ongoing program of recovery from addiction has been proving itself in the lives of many addicts. It is a spiritual, not religious program know as Narcotics Anonymous. It is available to all. For further info contact NA at www.na.org or(818) 773-9999.
Narcotics Anonymous has no opinions on outside issues and the preceding is solely
the opinion and understanding of this writer. Should you wish further discussion please post to this site.
January 18, 2008 6:14 PM
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