In the 1970s, cocaine was expensive and considered a “status” drug. The introduction of cheap crack increased the convenience of this substance, and crack has become the drug of choice for many drug users, especially for inner-city disadvantaged youth. This has been the beginnings of the growing crack addiction. Crack’s convenience, ease of concealment, wide availability, and low cost has increased its use. The fact that crack is smoked rather than injected has contributed to its popularity.

Moreover, drug addiction is not only occurring to people on the streets. It is a common fact that celebrities have their “shining moments” when it comes to substance abuse. They may look pleasant and very much happy in front of cameras, but their deepest secrets are yet to be exposed. A number of celebrities have already been into rehabilitation to fight their crack addiction, heroin, or even alcohol addiction.

Long before Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears hogged the headlines with their wild child antics, there was Drew Barrymore. At the age of nine, Drew was already smoking cigarettes. She was an alcoholic at 11, a marijuana smoker by 12, and a cocaine addict by 13. She went to rehab twice and even tried to commit suicide when she was 14. Right now, that is all in the past. Her wild child days behind her, Barrymore has grown into a sober, responsible and productive woman. Aside from starring in a slew of hits, she has also become a producer, forming the production company Flower Films with friend and partner Nancy Juvonen in 1995. Her company is responsible for hits like Charlie’s Angels and 50 First Dates. This goes to show that anybody messed up with drugs can revive from life.

There are actually two sides to this Oprah-Winfrey-was-a-drug-addict story. On one hand, there’s the remarkable TV moment in the 90s when she tearfully admitted in her own talk show that she had smoked crack cocaine while in her 20s, but never said anything about an addiction to the drug or anything else. On the other hand, there’s the more latest accusation made in a tell-all book by a previous boyfriend that Oprah was in reality, a customary cocaine user in the 80s, and was in fact under the influence during her show tapings.

Whatever the truth is, it is clear that Oprah has now overcome whatever her drug demons of the 70s and 80s were. As of September 2008, Forbes has listed Oprah to acquire wealth worth over $2.7 billion. CNN and Time Magazine dubbed her “arguably the world’s most powerful woman”. She is quite the success story, sordid drug past or not.

Anyone of all walks of life could be a victim of crack addiction. Life is largely unpredictable. One time we are having a good laugh with friends living the good life, the next time we know, we are shaking and craving for a drug we never thought we couldn’t seem to live without. People may be aware of the effects of drugs if abused, yet they still give in to curiosity, probably, or to pressure and thus end up living miserably. However, there is always hope for every addict in this world. Life doesn’t end in addiction. Giving up is ends life.

Alcohol is one teratogen that could greatly have an effect on the woman’s pregnancy. People may not know of its danger and still allow a woman to drink alcoholic drinks during her pregnancy, but the result of this would be carried by the baby for the rest of his or her life. In the United States, alcohol is the substance very famous to cause mental and physical birth defects. Though, this is only a possibility, the rate is high.

There is an incident where a pregnant woman consumes alcohol, a disorder called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome would take place in the embryo. Alcohol crosses the placental barrier and can inhibit fetal growth, create distinctive facial stigmata, damage neurons and brain structures, and cause other physical, mental, or behavioral problems. The main effect of FAS is enduring central nervous system damage, especially to the brain. Developing brain cells and structures are malformed by before birth alcohol exposure, often creating a collection of primary cognitive and functional disabilities including poor memory, attention deficits, impulsive behavior, and poor cause-effect reasoning, as well as secondary disabilities for example, mental health problems, and drug addiction.

The signs and symptoms of a having fetal alcohol syndrome are low birth weight, small head circumference, developmental interruption, organ dysfunction, facial abnormalities, including smaller eye openings, flattened cheekbones, and indistinct philtrum (an underdeveloped groove between the nose and the upper lip), epilepsy, poor coordination, poor socialization skills, such as difficulty building and maintaining friendships and relating to groups, lack of curiosity, learning difficulties, including poor memory, inability to understand concepts such as time and money, poor language comprehension, poor problem-solving skills, behavioral problems including hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, social withdrawal, stubbornness, impulsiveness, and anxiety.

The primary characteristic of fetal alcohol syndrome is the damage it brings in the central nervous system. Central nervous system damage can be assessed in three areas such as structural, neurological, and functional deficiencies. Structural impairments may include microcephaly (small head size) of two or more standard deviations below the average, or other abnormalities in brain structure. During the first trimester of pregnancy, alcohol gets in the way with the migration and organization of brain cells, which can make structural deficits within the brain. During the third trimester, harm can be caused to the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory, learning, emotion, and encoding visual and auditory information, all of which can create neurological and functional CNS impairments as well.

The evaluation of neurological deficiencies will take place when structural deficiencies do not exist. Neurological problems are showed as either diagnosable disorders, such as epilepsy or other seizure disorders, or soft signs. Soft signs are broader, nonspecific neurological impairments, such as impaired fine motor skills, neurosensory hearing loss, poor gait, clumsiness, poor eye-hand coordination.

When structural or neurological impairments are not observed, all four diagnostic systems allow CNS damage due to prenatal alcohol exposure to be assessed in terms of functional impairments. Functional impairments are abnormalities due to prenatal alcohol exposure (rather than hereditary causes or postnatal insults) in observable and measurable domains related to daily functioning, often referred to as developmental disabilities.

No evidence exists that can determine exactly how much alcohol ingestion will produce birth defects. There are differences in the processing’s of alcohol in women. Other factors vary the results, too, such as the age of the mother, the timing and regularity of the alcohol ingestion, and whether the mother has eaten any food while drinking.

Alcohol quickly passes the placental barrier and the fetus is less equipped to eradicate alcohol than its mother, so the fetus tends to accept a high concentration of alcohol, which stays behind longer than it would in the mother’s system. That explains why the child is the one largely affected when in fact it is the mother who consumes the alcohol. Unfortunately true.

Depending upon the preference of the user and the drugs’ purity. Heroin can be used in different ways. It can be injected into a vein, injected into a muscle, smoked in a standard pipe, mixed in a marijuana joint, inhaled as smoke through a straw, known as “chasing the dragon,” snorted as powder via the nose.

After a single dose, the short-term effects of abusing heroin appears and in a few hours disappear. After an injection of heroin, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. The initial euphoria is followed by an alternation of a wakeful and sleepy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded because of the depression of the central nervous system. Other effects included decreased and slurred speech, slow gait, constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, impaired night vision, vomiting, constipation.

A certain period of time is needed for the appearance of the long-term effects of heroin. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulites, and liver disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health condition of the abuser, as well as from heroin’s depressing effects on respiration. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin may have additives that do not really dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs. With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity or effect.

Physical dependence and heroin addiction develops as higher doses are used over time. With physical dependence, the body has adapted to the existed of the drug and withdrawal symptoms may occur if use is reduced. Withdrawal, which in regular abusers may happen as early as a few hours after the last administration, produces drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (”cold turkey”), kicking movements (”kicking the habit”), and other symptoms. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last does and subside after about a week. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health can be fatal.

Furthermore, the withdrawal syndrome from heroin may start within 6 to 24 hours of discontinuation of the drug; however, this time frame can change with the degree of tolerance as well as the amount of the last consumed dose. Symptoms may include: sweating, malaise, anxiety, depression, priapism, extra sensitivity of the genitals in females, general feeling of heaviness, cramp-like pains in the limbs, excessive yawning, tears, rhinorrhea, sleep difficulties (insomnia), cold sweats, chills, severe muscle and bone aches; nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, and fever.

Heroin addiction, just like any other drug addiction starts with occasional use of the drug, which later on would become a habit. This is so because it causes some chemicals in the brain to become dependent to the drug. Moreover, the body itself craves for the drug because of its pleasurable effects. It is relaxing, thus the person feels positively about the drug. And even though it gets to the point that the drug is starting to deteriorate the person, he or she could not get away with it anymore, because he or she has become dependent on heroin. Thus, when the drug intake is suddenly ended, the person experiences withdrawal symptoms. With this, professional help is required for recovery.

Then, he seeks for help from hi loved ones. He looks for the aid of an expert to intoxicate him from the drug. Rehabilitation centers give help to those who have substance use problems. They provide medical help as well as psychological and social aid. However, rehabilitation may not be adequate for the full recovery of the person. The patient should be prepared with the right values and skills in facing the real world after rehabilitation.

Groups such as alcoholics anonymous, emotions anonymous, and cocaine anonymous are fellowship groups that provide spiritual enhancement and life skills program to people who wants to receive them. Anybody who is willing to alter and turn away from such addictions or someone who merely wants to help victims recover form the darkness they were in is very welcome to join the fellowship. Inside this organization, members help each other to recover from their problems. The fellowship believes that the best people who could understand addicts are those who have been addicts themselves. Sympathy and compassion will never be enough. Someone who has experienced any kind of addiction would really understand the feeling of an addict and thus, would be able to give the right comfort and support.

Such groups does not just rely on spiritual and medical help. They also make use of the twelve-step program. This twelve-step program was first made by the alcoholics anonymous. This consists of twelve steps on how to deal with the addiction, with emphasis on acceptance, surrender, and self-awareness. The twelve step program tries to impart that there is one very powerful being above us all, and that we should surrender all our flaws to Him and al will be well. Of course, man should do his best to become a better person and God will then do the rest.

Here is an example of the famous twelve-step program from Overeaters Anonymous:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our emotions — that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

With the twelve-step program, people who have become victims of addiction are given hope that it is not too late – that life does not end in addiction. In fact, it even opens a new entry, a new chapter in our lives in which we should live meaningfully.

Everyone has their abnormal persona. We all have that craziness within us. It is just a matter of how we handle our differences and extremities that we are able to handle our craziness. Moreover, many ask if mental illnesses really do exist. The English-speaking world has not always used medical language to illustrate the behavior we now label as symptomatic of mental illness. Illlustrations were sometimes framed in quite different terms, such as possession. What we now call mental illness was not always treated as a medical problem. Non-English-speaking nations in the West have had changes in their linguistic usage and their treatment of the mentally ill roughly parallel to Anglophone countries. Anthropological work in non-Western cultures suggests that there are many cases of behavior that psychiatry would classify as symptomatic of mental disorder, which are not seen within their own cultures as signs of mental illness.

However, nowadays, it has been talked about that mental disorders are really existing mental conditions that may have caused disturbance in a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished ability for coping with the ordinary demands of life.

Mental illness does not choose an individual to carry the burdens of the disorder. Mental illnesses are not the outcome of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. Mental illnesses are treatable. Most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan. In addition to medication treatment, psychosocial treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community services can also be components of a treatment plan and that assist with recovery. The availability of transportation, diet, exercise, sleep, friends and meaningful paid or volunteer activities contribute to overall health and wellness, including mental illness recovery.

Unfortunately, society may be responsible for one’s failure in recovering form a mental illness. When the person is treated inside a medical institution, he or she is given ample treatment and is treated as if they are normal. They are given proper care and attention so as to promote recovery. However, when they go out into the real world after some time, society, upon knowing their past, would most likely mock them and treat them differently. Society would look at them as someone who still has the mental disorder and resultingly, it would make them feel worse and thus, could trigger an incidence of the mental illness once again.

The feelings of inadequateness would cause problems for a person with mental disorder. He would think that he I not valuable to live in this world given that he could not function properly anymore. However, support from family and friends would be a great help for the patient to view life differently and positively. Thus it is the role of the family to provide the patient with love and care so as to sustain his recovery.

However, sometimes, there are people who are not able to adjust to certain events in their lives and are unable to control their emotions and deal with what they are feeling. An emotional problem is not just a simple problem. One is not able to function well due to the disruption of its emotions. Usually, people would make use of defense mechanisms as to cover up their emotional problems. However, this would in turn cause some trouble in their daily lives. And, moreover, it could affect the people around them. Moreover, emotional problems could be caused by alcoholism or any addiction problems. When one is addicted, the person does not only become physically attached to the object of addiction, but also he or she becomes emotionally attached to the object of addiction.

Just like Alcoholics Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous is a twelve-step organization. It provides to people whose emotions are causing difficulties in their lives. Emotions such as depression, anxiety, fear, loneliness, anger, compulsion, and obsessions are the most common in which the members had to deal with. Emotions Anonymous was started on July 6, 1971. Emotions Anonymous meetings are self-supporting by intentional contributions of its members. Emotions Anonymous is not tied up with any sect, denomination, politics, organization, or institution, nor does it endorse or oppose any causes. The primary purpose of Emotions Anonymous is to show its members how to stay well emotionally and how to help others to become emotionally well.

This is the twelve-step program being used by Emotional Anonymous:

1. We admitted we were powerless over our emotions — that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

With emotions anonymous, people in all walks of life are able to seek help from others and may find relief and direction from those who have been there and had done that, or even share sympathy with people are experiencing the same thing. Indeed, social support is very important and could be a cure to emotional illness.

Life Threatening Risk: Cocaine Laced with Levamisole

** ALERT **

We always do our best to provide information and help to all of our readers from an unbiased and non judgmental standpoint. In that spirit, we want to make sure that if you or someone you care about is using Cocaine or using Crack that they be aware of the following information and they should seek professional medical help immediately.

Alcohol and other drug programs across California should be on the lookout for a dangerous substance levamisole that is showing up with increasing frequency in illicit cocaine powder and crack cocaine, most recently in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Levamisole is a veterinary anti-parasitic drug and it severely reduces the number of white blood cells in humans leading to an acute condition called agranulocytosis that should be treated at a hospital. Ingesting cocaine mixed with levamisole suppresses immune function and the body’s ability to fight off even minor infections. People who snort, smoke, or inject crack or powder cocaine contaminated by levamisole can experience overwhelming, rapidly-developing, life threatening infections.

Agranulocytosis manifests the following symptoms:

infections that won’t go away or get worse very fast, including sore throat or mouth sores; skin infections; abscesses; thrush (white coating of the mouth, tongue or throat); pneumonia (fever, cough, shortness of breath)

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) began alerting medical professionals, substance abuse treatment centers, and other public health authorities in September about the risks.

Used in veterinary medicine, levamisole is currently approved for use in cattle, sheep and swine as an anti-parasitic agent. Formerly used in human medicine for treating autoimmune diseases and cancer, it is no longer approved for human use.

SAMHSA is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Food and Drug Administration, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and other federal and international organizations, as well as state agencies to monitor the levamisole issue. CDC will publish a case report analysis in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and will work with state health departments to systematically collect information on cocaine-associated agranulocytosis cases. Information from this effort will be used to guide treatment and prevention initiatives to address the public health concern.

According to the DEA and state testing laboratories, the percentage of cocaine specimens containing levamisole has increased steadily since 2002, with levamisole now found in more than 70 percent of the illicit cocaine analyzed last July. In addition, a recent analysis in Seattle, Washington, found that almost 80 percent of individuals who test positive for cocaine also test positive for levamisole.

ADP is asking all providers to report suspected and confirmed cases of agranulocytosis associated with cocaine abuse to their local health departments. Cases can also be reported to local Poison Control Centers (1-800-222-1222), which may assist in clinical management and additional reporting. For further medical/technical information, contact Nicholas Reuter, SAMHSA Nicholas.reuter@samhsa.hhs.gov

This Cocaine Related Health Alert was sent to us to help keep you informed. The SAMHSA stands for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). If you or a loved one need help with cocaine addiction or abuse please call the number on this site, or if you require medical attention contact a medical professional right away.

To add, admitting to oneself that a superior being controls your life and you can turn to that superior being in time of needs is part of spirituality. It is God’s spirit that can provide for you the strength and courage to face your problems. It is the admission that you do not have to burn yourself out fraught to solve all your problems on your own. It is the openness to let go of your sense of over-responsibility and let God have some authority over the problems. Spirituality is also the identification that humans consist not only of physical matter but also have a spiritual dimension that needs daily care in order to survive.

Faith, hope, and love are the three foundations of spirituality. Faith is what allows the person to believe that a supreme being is helping them in times of trouble, sorrow, and pain. Faith is the belief that God will never desert or forget you during your time of need. Furthermore, spirituality is easily identified in people who have hope and trust in God’s mercy, wisdom and justice. Their hope makes them to “let go and let God.” Their hope enables them to hand over their sense of over responsibility, guilt, rescuing and enabling to God’s hands. Their hope enables them to take a “tough love” stance in order to get aid for the troubled persons in their lives. Also, when one gives love, concern, and generosity to others, there is spirituality. With spirituality, people are altruistic and giving in their approach to the world. They are able to make a difference in people’s lives.

However, there has been a rising conflict between the boundary of spirituality and religion. The two terms may be sometimes used by people interchangeably, yet one should be clarified with its distinction. Religion is an institution established by man for different reasons- exert control; instill morality, stroke egos, or whatever it does. On the other hand, spirituality is born in a person and develops in the person. It may be kick started by a religion, or it may be kick started by a revelation. Spirituality extends to all facets of a person’s life. Spirituality is chosen while religion is often times forced.

Personally, I believe that spirituality is deeper than religion. As what was said, religion is most of the time forced, thus, usually, people practice religious rituals out of obedience to the religious tradition. But, true spirituality is something that is found deep within oneself. It is a way of loving, accepting and relating to the world and people around. It cannot be found in a church or by believing in a certain way.

Subutex binds so tightly to the opiate receptors, that taking heroin or methadone will have little or no effect. This substance is usually used in narcotic drug treatment programs, and prescribed in varying doses. The effects of subutex are less definite than those of other opiates, giving the individual the feeling of being somewhat “normal” once more. Buprenorphine is an opioid that is used to wean people off their addiction to stronger opioids such as morphine, diamorphine (heroin) and methadone. It is prescribed as a replacement for such drugs. By acting on the identical opioid receptors as other opioids, buprenorphine prevents the physical withdrawal symptoms that occur when these drugs are stopped. This prevents physical cravings. Over time, the dosage of buprenorhpine is gradually lessen until it can be stopped completely. Moreover, buprenorphine replacement therapy for opioid addiction must be used in combination with other medical, social and psychological treatment.

However, after medication, it is not an assurance that the person would become free from drug dependence. One’s body would eventually adjust to the effects of subutex and thus would possibly become reliant to it. Meaning to say, the person may be free from heroin addiction but in turn, become a subutex addict. Science has found a substance that could imitate the effects of certain drugs such as heroin and methadone, to stop withdrawal syndrome. However, just like any other drugs, subutex still has a negative effect on the body.

Drowsiness; dizziness; weakness; constipation; headache; nausea or vomiting; slow, shallow breathing; mental changes; mood changes (depression); stomach or abdominal pain; liver problems; dark urine; yellowing eyes; skin changes; vision changes; and death due to overdose are some of the side effects of subutex. These effects could be experienced upon taking subutex. Moreover, it could worsen if the drug is taken together with other substances such as alcohol.

Subutex (buprenorphine) can cause drug addiction. If the use of subutex is suddenly stopped, the individual may experience withdrawal symptoms and/or the desire to relapse and consume the addictive drug once more. When mixed with other drugs (antidepressants, alcohol, sleeping medicine, etc.), subutex may enhance their effects and cause severe health hazards. Subutex can cause death from overdose if injected with a tranquilizer.

It’s easy access and less expensive price contribute to the increase in the number of subutex addiction cases. The fact that buprenorphine costs less than heroin and is more accessible has hastened the development of illegal markets in various countries. Buprenorphine made in India, for example, is smuggled into Nepal and Sri Lanka, as well as Bangladesh, where it is used by 90 percent of the country’s intravenous drug users, according to a UN Drug and Crime story last year.

It is quite disturbing to imagine that no single drug is free from becoming an object of dependence. People have to be careful in taking both prescribed and non-prescribed drugs. These definite drugs could somehow be thought of as a traitor. At first they act as if they are giving you positive effects. Then later on, you become addicted to the drug and take the drug

despite the depressing it is eliciting. It’s like the devil that tempted you to eat the apple from the forbidden tree and then left you when everything else went wrong.

The longing to discontinue the use of drugs is the only prerequisite necessary for on to join Narcotics Anonymous. They meet regularly to lend a hand to each other stay clean, clean which means a complete abstinence form all mood and mind altering substances. There are no fees necessary when one joins a nonprofit organization.

Narcotics Anonymous provides a place for drug addicts to recover aside from rehabilitation centers. Usually, addicts initially enter narcotics anonymous after reaching a “bottom” in their life, a point at which life feels completely uncontrollable, characterized by “unemployability, dereliction and destruction” and centered around the getting and using and finding ways and means to get more drugs. There are different bottoms for every Narcotics Anonymous member. This is when an addict can be anywhere he chooses to stop using substances. In practice, it is drug use and the severe consequences related with its abuse that bring most addicts to their bottom many of them sliding along ‘this bottom’ for many years often cannot find their way out.

Regular meetings are the basic unit of Narcotics Anonymous fellowship. Gatherings are held in a array of places such as church meeting rooms, libraries, hospitals, community centers, parks, or any other place that can accommodate a meeting. “Open” and “closed” meetings are the two basic types of meetings practiced in Narcotics Anonymous.Anyone is welcome to attend an open meeting, while closed meetings are limited to addicts and to people who think they may have a problem with drugs.

Meeting formats differ, but usually conatin time devoted to the reading aloud of Narcotics Anonymous literature with regards to the issues involved in living life clean which is written by and for members of Narcotics Anonymous. Many meetings also include an “open sharing” component, where anyone attending has the chance to share. There is usually no direct feedback throughout the ’share’, thus only one person ever speaks at any given time during this portion of the meeting.

Each group has only one primary purpose that is to carry the message to the addict who still suffers. As a result, the newcomer is considered to be the most important person in any meeting. The message of Narcotics Anonymous is hope, that there is another way to live. The basic assurance of narcotics anonymous is that an addict, any addict, can discontinue using drugs, lose the desire to use, and learn a new way of life. Members are being given hope for a new life through Narcotics Anonymous’ twelve step program and twelve traditions.

Every individual has many potentials which translates to every life should not be put to waste. He or she may fail, as in becoming enslaved by worldly things such as drugs, but a person is also capable of standing up from the fall and looking forward once again. Thus, the Narcotics Anonymous, focusing on people who are victims of drug addiction, speaks to these people of how wonderful life still is and that addiction does not mean the end, it is just a middle stage for a new and better life.

Narcotics Anonymous are now based in different areas in the world. The organization is trying to make a difference. These organizations have but one message to convey, that in times of darkness, such as falling into the pit of drug addiction, you are not alone in this battle. The Narcotics Anonymous is there to support you and help you stand up and fight for your life.