Drug Treatment Initiative

During last week\s State of the Union Address, President George W. Bush announced his drug treatment initiative to the nation, clearly stating that recovery is possible.

According to John P. Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), "This initiative offers a new and effective way for the federal government to help people get into drug treatment programs and recovery." The President\'s plan includes $600 million over a three-year period targeted at increasing capacity and access to effective rehabilitation programs. The initiative also allows for individuals in need to receive vouchers so that they can seek the program of their choice. This in itself is largely important because often times programs with excellent track records don\'t always receive government funding due to "non-traditional" modalities and that state-run programs often have an extensive waiting list to receive drug treatment. The vouchers allow addicts seeking effective drug treatment to enroll in private programs if they choose to do so, and states would monitor the outcomes of the voucher program to track clients\' success.

The "Recovery Now" initiative therefore not only helps the individuals in need, but assists in validating the fact that a variety of treatment modalities is essential to overcome addiction on a broad scale. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration\'s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has been pushing a message of change and accountability in the field of drug rehabilitation, urging states to include more types of programs to address the ever-changing need of addicted Americans, yet many are still focused on "traditional" types of programs that subscribe to only a few basic philosophies. This is clearly evident by the certification boards and processes for programs and counselors whose guidelines are based solely on methods deemed to be "the right way" arbitrarily by a group of people many years ago.

Organizations such as The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission embraces many types of behavioral health programs, understanding that one size doesn\'t fit all. For example, the Narconon® Drug Rehabilitation and Education Program is one of the most successful programs in the nation, achieving a success rate of greater than 70% for recovery based on research and discoveries by L. Ron Hubbard. This organization is non-traditional in nature, but has more than three decades of continued success and is now operating in over 30 nations around the world. If you need information for an effective drug treatment program, contact Narconon Arrowhead at 1-800-468-6933 or via email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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