Illicit drugs are often cheaper and easier to obtain than a six pack of beer. If a single dose of cocaine can be bought for only $3.00, Is it any wonder the use of illicit drugs across he U.S. has been increasing?
In 2002, 8.3% of the U.S. population 12 years of age or older had used an illicit drug within the past month. In 2013 that number rose to 9.4%. That’s 24.6 million Americans aged 12 years and older who were regularly using illicit drugs. That same year, prescription medications, such as sedatives, stimulants, tranquilizers, and pain relievers, were used in a non-medical capacity by 6.5 million Americans aged 12 years and older. Hallucinogens, including ecstasy and LSD were used in the past month by 1.3 million Americans in 2013.
For most drug users, their first non-medical encounter with prescription medication or use of illicit drugs occurs in the teen years. Over half of the 2.8 million new users – – which works out to roughly 7,800 new users per day – – of illicit drugs in 2013 were under the age of 18. In other words, around 4,219 teenagers were trying illicit drugs for the first time each day in 2013. What this early and prevalent drug use translates into is over 20 million American teens and adults suffering from substance addictions other than tobacco.
Particularly common among prescription and illicit drug users is opioid addiction. Opiods are psychoactive chemicals found in drugs such as heroine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine and morphine. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly a quarter of heroin users will develop a opioid addiction.
How to know if you or a loved one has an addiction
The National Institute on Drug Abuse defines addiction as a chronic brain disease wherein drug seeking and use becomes compulsive. While the choice to take drugs may have been voluntary at first, once an addiction takes hold, the brain’s chemistry is altered, making the seeking and us of the drug involuntary.
Disruption to the brain’s chemistry occurs when the drugs alter the way the brain’s communication system works. They do this by either imitating the brain’s natural chemical processes or cause the reward circuit of the brain to be overstimulated. For drugs such as heroine, which resemble the structure of naturally occurring brain chemicals, the brain is fooled into into sending abnormal messages. In the case of drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamine, the nerve cells are caused to release high levels of dopamine, flooding the feel-good sensors of the brain.
With prolonged use, the brain adapts to these changes and responds by reducing its dopamine receptors. With fewer receptors available, the individual will need to seek more and more unnatural stimulants to reach prior levels of pleasure. Thus recreational use becomes dependence.
Options for combating drug addiction before it’s too late
Every day drug overdoses claim the lives of 100 people. It is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. Naturally, the chances for accidental drug overdoses increase as an individual’s drug usage and dependency grows. The good news is treatment is available and as our understanding of how drugs affect the human body increases, the treatments to combat addiction advance in their effectiveness. For those suffering from opiate addiction, one option is to seek an Ibogaine detox program.
What is Ibogaine
Ibogaine is derived from the root bark of a West African shrub. A natural alkaloid, Ibogaine has been used for thousands of years as part of rite of passage rituals and spiritual development. In the late 1960s, researchers discovered it’s ability to combat opiate withdrawal.
How Ibogaine detox works
Ibogaine drug treatment utilizes on Ibogaine’s ability to help reverse addiction to many types of drugs. With opiates, Ibogaine drug therapy has been shown to alleviate upwards of 98% of withdrawal symptoms by resetting the opiate receptor cells which were flooded by the use of drugs. By obviating the physical symptoms of opiate withdrawal, Ibogaine detox can significantly reduce post-acute withdrawal syndrome and cut cravings for stimulants and alcohol.
Ibogaine can be pure or semi-synthetic. With Ibogaine detox at Clear Sky Recovery treatment center in Cancun, individuals are treated with only 99.6% pure pharmaceutical grade Ibogaine HCl.