Working Together

- Communities Combining Resources to Stamp Out Drug Use Proves to be an Effective Measure

Drug addiction continues to be a festering sore in our civilization that is the root cause of many societal problems.  The multibillion dollar underground as well as commercial production and trafficking passes on many more billions of dollars in costs to citizens of this country to work on the cleanup and it is a no-win situation dealing only in the death and destruction of individuals as well as the very fabric that makes up the human race.

It wasn't until the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988 that increased funding for treatment and rehabilitation became available form the Federal Government, though throughout the history of this great nation there have been eras where substance abuse penalties leaned more toward incarceration rather than rehabilitation. 

Once again, we are in a time where leaders in America are recognizing that people can overcome addiction and that effective services must be made available by investing time and resources into programs that work.  While there are effective programs to rehabilitate individuals, there has been little established to rehabilitate communities.

One of the world's most successful rehabilitation and education programs, called NARCONON®, is based on the drug-free methodology of American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard and is now implementing more community involvement with its graduates.  For example, graduates and family members from the network's premier facility called Narconon Arrowhead are taking courses to become community involvement specialists.

Utilizing existing national movements such as the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, Narconon graduates take their new education and passion to help others achieve a drug-free life and work to disseminate this anti-drug message in areas of their hometowns.  These community involvement specialists now work with various civic groups, clubs, churches and parishes to create harmony, peace and coordination.

Coordinated efforts between opinion leaders of a community along with workable technology have started movements where citizens begin to look after and take responsibility for each other.  One mother of a Narconon graduate started working with another mother and the two of them continued to educate people in their town, which so far has resulted in dozens of former addicts being becoming drug-free and working to help even more people. 

This town in northeast Arkansas, as just one example, now has a network of caring people that pull together resources to help others in need and are literally saving lives on a routine basis.  Before this time, the people of the town were in complete apathy regarding the prevalence of drug use.

As this system grows and as more former addicts, family members and concerned citizens take responsibility for the area in which they live, the tolerance for ineffective treatment systems, substitute drug programs and drug use in general will lessen. 

A community that pulls together can make a better society for all.  It is not enough for a limited number of people to try and clean up the more than 20 million individuals currently addicted to drugs in the United States and to prevent our children from using as well.  We must work together, demand effective solutions and decide to take a stand as a group to regain control of our society.

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