If Substance Abuse Were Eliminated, What American Problems Would Disappear? Substance abuse imposes severe physical, mental, and social burdens on Americans, contributing to preventable health issues, social problems, and significant financial costs. This article highlights the reduction in injuries, illnesses, and deaths and crime that could result from combatting drug and alcohol abuse. Read More ..read more

Narconon Staff Member Turning Personal Experience into Purposeful Advocacy The Deputy Executive Director of Narconon Yunlin, Shen Ji Chen (Jimmy) was recently honored for his dedication and service to the community after opening a drug rehabilitation center (Narconon Yunlin). The honor was awarded to 100 Yunlin citizens and was proudly accepted by Shen Ji Chen and his staff. Read More ..read more

An Update on Dextromethorphan, the Addictive Cough Medicine Ingredient Dextromethorphan, found in many cough medicines, is abused far too often by teens eager to experience its psychoactive effects. Despite being legal in every state, it poses serious risks such as delusions, hallucinations, violence, addiction, and death. Some states have imposed age restrictions, but greater awareness and control are needed to combat this issue. Recovery is possible with proper support. Read More ..read more

Xanax, One of America’s Most Addictive Drugs Despite being an approved medication intended to treat panic disorders and anxiety, Xanax is also a mind-altering drug that has the potential to cause unwanted—even dangerous—side effects, addiction included. Some research shows Xanax is one of the most popular drugs currently sought for its mind-altering effects. Read More ..read more

Alcohol and Drugs: Their Damaging Effects on Your Brain The article reveals the detrimental effects of commonly abused substances on the human brain, ranging from alcohol and benzodiazepines to cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, and opioids. Read More ..read more

Stress Takes the Lead as a Primary Reason Why Young People Turn to Drugs and Alcohol For years, peer pressure was recognized as the most common factor that precipitated youth drug use, particularly first-time drug use. However, a recent study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has cited stress as now eclipsing peer pressure as the primary reason why young people experiment with mind-altering substances. Read More ..read more

Codeine: Addictive and Potentially Dangerous What began as a seemingly innocent cough medicine is now increasingly known for its mind-altering and addictive properties. People should understand what codeine is, and they should also know that the Food and Drug Administration changed how it monitors codeine. Codeine is addictive, evidenced by the people who’ve become hooked on it. Read More ..read more

Youth Drug Use Not Increasing, But Far More Dangerous and Deadly Despite a decline in overall drug use among teenagers, fatal drug overdoses among teens have spiked. Why has this happened? Drug trafficking organizations first discovered how easy it was to manufacture illicit fentanyl and then learned to press it into tens of millions of pills for the American market. Read More ..read more

What Is the Scope of Synthetic Cannabinoid Abuse Today? Synthetic cannabinoids are a relatively new drug of concern, a man-made substance similar to cannabis but made in a lab. Such drugs often produce very different effects than one might expect from cannabis, and users can rarely predict what chemicals will be in any given batch of synthetic cannabinoids. Read More ..read more

Synthetic Drugs Increasingly a Problem for Young Americans This article defines what synthetic drugs are, focusing on synthetic cathinones, synthetic cannabinoids, and synthetic opioids. The article also presents evidence showing how these substances have become increasingly popular in the 21st century, especially among young Americans in their teens and twenties. Read More ..read more