IDADA

This week, in recognition of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Narconon Georgia staff members joined the efforts of Narconon centers across the world reminding the world of the United Nations slogan "Do drugs control your life? Your life. Your community. No place for drugs".

 

Founding Narconon member, Gordy Weinand gave interviews to local radio stations while other staff members spoke to law enforcement with the message that if we all work together we can reduce the number of individuals who fall prey to drugs each year.

 

While drug trends and statistics are interesting, it is no surprise to anyone on this planet that the drug problem is out of control.  Most understand that drugs and the resultant crime are at the root of many familial and social ills.  According to Gordy Weinand, the point that is missing in all of this is guidance for families and communities as to what to do.  Gordy pointed out "Most people are aware that there is a drug problem out there, but many families are unaware that chances are that their own child is being exposed to drugs at school.  Any campaign has got to start with educating families.  From there, the concerned parents can educate their kids and demand safe schools.  Neighborhoods can begin to get clean and drug free zones can begin to expand.  We have to start somewhere NOW."

 

Through effective drug prevention and rehabilitation Narconon of Georgia will continue to spread the word.

 

Call us if you need help at your church or school with drug education.  We will respond.

 

What we do now influences the future.  Let's make it a bright and drug free one.

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

Anhydrous ammonia and Propane cylinders

Anhydrous ammonia and propane cylinders

SAFETY ALERT
Caution!
The brass valve in a propane cylinder will be damaged if it comes in contact with anhydrous ammonia. This deterioration will lead to cracking of the valve body or its components and can ultimately result in a violent, unexpected expulsion of the valve from the cylinder, causing personal injury or death.
Background and Recommended Action
It has come to the attention of the National Propane Gas Association that propane cylinders are being used in the manufacturing of Methamphetamines. This drug is commonly referred to as 'crank'. Manufacturers of this illegal substance are using propane cylinders for the storage and the use of anhydrous ammonia. These cylinders have been found in many states at cylinder exchange and refilling s as well as in hotel rooms and mobile laboratories, where the manufacturing of this illegal substance takes place.
..As observed in the illustrations, a blue-green stain on any brass portion of a service valve is evidence that it may have been in contact with anhydrous ammonia*. The pungent odor of ammonia on or near the cylinder is also an indication. If you suspect that a propane cylinder contains or has contained anhydrous ammonia, exercise extreme caution and restrict access to the area. 
It can be dangerous to move the cylinder due to the unknown integrity of the cylinder's service valve. If you determine that it must be moved, keep in mind that hazards due to valve expulsion can be reduced by pointing the end of the container in which the valve is placed away from yourself and others and towards the most safe direction.
..Immediately contact your Fire Department, Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Unit or the nearest office of the United States Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for information on properly disposing of the cylinder. If these respondents are not sure what to do, for assistance call 1-800-728-2482, which is the contact number for PERS, an independent hazardous materials information resource. 
*Note: Sherwood valves contain a green coated valve stem. Additionally, a green thread sealing compound is used on some valves. These valves should not be confused with those that have been exposed to anhydrous ammonia.

..INTRODUCTION:   Readers of this bulletin should consult the law of their individual jurisdictions for codes, standards and legal requirements applicable to them.  This bulletin merely suggests methods which the reader may find useful in implementing applicable codes, standards and legal requirements.  This material is not intended nor should it be construed (1) to set forth procedures which are the general custom or practice in the propane industry; (2) to establish the legal standards of care owed by propane distributors to their customers; or (3) to prevent the reader from using different methods to implement applicable codes, standards or legal requirements.  The National Propane Gas Association assumes no liability for reliance on the contents of this bulletin.  It is offered as a guide only to assist expert and experienced teachers and managers in training in service personnel in their organizations. 
 
 

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

"Disposable Heros" - ABC

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

Consider Alternative to Prision

Prison Population Boom Has More States Considering Alternatives

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that a record 7.2 million Americans were incarcerated in 2006, costing taxpayers an estimated $45 billion and pushing states to consider less-costly alternatives ranging from private prisons to diversion to addiction treatment programs, the Washington Post reported June 12.

"There are a number of states that have talked about an early release of prisoners deemed non-threatening," said Rebecca Blank of the Brookings Institution. "The problem just keeps getting bigger and bigger. You're paying a lot of money here. You have to ask if some of these high mandatory-minimum sentences make sense."

The Pew Center on the States recently reported that the U.S. has more people in prison than any nation on earth, with 1 percent of the entire national population locked up. The new BJS report estimated that one in 15 black men are in prison, as well as one in 35 Hispanic males.

Harsh drug-crime sentencing laws have helped drive the prison population up from just 1.8 million in 1980. "It's really like a runaway train," said Ryan King of the Sentencing Project. "Nobody's taking a step back and asking where all these billions of dollars are going."

Still, the prison boom has its defenders. "If you look at the fact that these are people who are committing a crime, creating a danger to the public, you can't look at it as wrong," said Scott Thorpe, chief executive of the California District Attorneys Association. "What is the appropriate number of people to be incarcerated to ensure public safety? I don't know if you can answer that."

But Tim Lynch of the Cato Institute said the latest figures "demonstrate that we've lost our way ... when our laws require such a massive scale of incarceration."

"When you lock up a bank robber, a child molester or a mugger, you're removing a career offender from the street," said Lynch. "When you lock up a drug dealer, he is immediately replaced. We tried this with alcohol during Prohibition and it didn't work. We're not reaching the same conclusion with the drug war. It's slowly sinking in, but it will take politicians some time to turn this around." 

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

Marijuana leads to risk of mental health-CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The earlier a young person uses marijuanathe greater the risk for mental health problems later in life, the director of National Drug Control Policy said Tuesday, basing his conclusion on a survey of medical research.

 

"We're trying to get out the word that the last 10 years of research have helped to alert us to the use of marijuana in particular is a very dangerous risk for the mental health of our young people," John Walters said at a news conference.

He said the conclusion runs against popular culture that often considers marijuana a low-risk recreational drug.

Walters cited a government study that found a base rate of mental illness at between 8 percent and 9 percent among Americans 18 and older. For those who use marijuana, he said, "That increases to 12-and-a-half percent."

And, he added, "For those who have used marijuana prior to age 12, the rate of mental illness jumps to 21 percent."

The rate was half that, or 10.5 percent, for adults who first used marijuana at age 18 or older.

Those were the findings of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Walters did not directly address the possibility of confusing cause and effect -- that is, that people with mental problems might be more inclined to use drugs.

One study he cited was published last year in the Archives of General Psychiatry. It involved 600 pairs of same-sex twins, one of whom was dependent on marijuana and one of whom was not. The twin who was dependent was almost three times as likely to think about suicide and attempt suicide than his brother or sister, the study found.

Neil McKeganey, who heads the University of Glasgow's Center for Drug Misuse Research, was at the press conference in support of Walters.

"It is leading us to look again at this so-called recreational drug," he said. "Kids who start to use marijuana at a young age are much more likely to suffer serious, long-term mental health problems."

The parents of a teenager who committed suicide last year were also at the news conference, and they linked their son's death to his marijuana use.

Tanya Skaggs, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, said, "He had a severe lack of judgment that was because of the marijuana, this destructive behavior was continuing," in the months leading up to his death.

The parents were unable to break his marijuana use, Skaggs said, despite counseling, searching his room for pot and random drug tests.

"We just never thought that something like this could happen to us. But it does, and it did," she said. "We wish we could have helped."

Agenda 'detrimental to your children'

Walters downplayed whether the medical use of marijuana undercuts the impact of warnings to young people against pot use.

The question was tied to a decision by Canada last month to approve the prescription drug Sativex, an oral spray that contains the active ingredient of marijuana, to treat the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

He responded, "We believe that there's a clear distinction" between validated medical benefits and what he said could be "a bunch of ads where people testify that their mother, dying, smoked a joint and was saved, and that means marijuana is medicine."

"Your children are being educated," he said of such advertising. "But they're being told lies. And they're being told things that are designed to push a particular agenda which is detrimental to your children, and detrimental to the country."

Group calls for national discussion

Meanwhile, a Washington-based nonprofit group released a report recommending changes in the way authorities handle drug offenses, citing a "disproportionate" focus on "low-level marijuana users."

"The 'war on drugs' in the 1990s was, essentially, a 'war on marijuana,'" said the report by the Sentencing Project, which was founded in 1986 to promote alternative sentencing programs.

A national analysis covering 1990 to 2002 found that, of a 450,000 rise in drug arrests during that period, 82 percent of the increase was for marijuana, and 79 percent was for marijuana possession alone.

Marijuana arrests now make up 45 percent of the nation's 1.5 million drug arrests annually, the report said, and an estimated $4 billion is spent each year on marijuana offenders.

"The growth in marijuana arrests over the 1990s has not led to a decrease in use or availability, nor an increase in cost," the group said. "Meanwhile, billions are being spent nationally."

The report calls for "a national discussion regarding the zealous prosecution of marijuana use and its consequences for al of criminal justice resources and public safety."

"Law enforcement has focused disproportionately on low-level possession charges as a result of the nation's lack of a thoughtful strategy," it said.

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

What do you think Obama?

Elections will be soon and with an estimated 20 million drug abusers in this country we need to educate ourselves on how our candidates view the "War on Drugs."

 

Over two million Americans are in prison and most of their crimes are drug related.  Are these individuals the victims of the war or the prisoners of war?  Without clear direction on this issue, it is difficult to tell.

 

We need clearly defined policy that helps protect law abiding citizens from drug related crime, while at the same time, offers help for offenders who are addicts.    The benefits of such a policy to the health and wealth of our nation are obvious.  

 

Ask your candidates where they stand on this issue.  If they don't have a clear policy, then demand one or vote for someone else.   

 

Something can be done about the situation.  It is up to us to see that there is.

 

 

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

Welcome to Narconon of Georgia

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qdx6KWbWtF8"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qdx6KWbWtF8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

Marketing Drugs to The Masses

Friends of Narconon President's Briefing--Issue 99

Taken From Friends of Narconon
Marketing Drugs to The Masses In a previous article we talked about a natural hallucinogenic drug that was easily available over the internet. These types of websites actually are called "No Prescription Websites" (NPWs) which offer to sell controlled substances without a valid prescription. NPWs were first recognized by the U.S. Justice Department in 1999, indicating that such sites had been operating at least through the late 1990s. NPWs enable dealers and users to complete transactions without direct contact. While many NPWs accept credit cards, others only accept cash thereby further reducing any paper trail. Many NPWs are hosted in countries in which specific categories of controlled substances are locally legal (e.g. prescription opioids in Mexico), but because of the global nature of the internet, NPWs are able to do (mostly illegal) business with customers around the globe. In addition to prescription opioids, stimulants, and sedatives, steroids are often widely distributed. To date, no websites have been found offering directly to sell illegal drugs like heroin, illegal amphetamine or methamphetamine derivatives, or cocaine, however the police have uncovered several instances of dealers/drug rings using Craigslist personal ads to solicit drug business using code words and phrases. All other categories of drugs are readily available online. As you can see our kids have more access to ...
Read More...

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

Article in the AJC "Substance Abuse Trap"

More and more kids are getting arrested for underage drinking. Many of these kids come from affluent neighborhoods and are popular kids.

 One such girl, recently featured in a newspaper article, had been a cheerleader and very much part of the “in crowd” at her school.

This pretty cheerleader recently found herself in handcuffs and sentenced to probation.

In a recent statewide survey 25 percent of high school seniors admit to binge drinking at least once in the last month. (Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks at one episode.)

 56 percent of the kids said that they had used alcohol in the last month.

Why are so many kids drinking and why are some drinking themselves into oblivion?

In the case of the pretty cheerleader she said she was bored. When drinking is the thing to do, kids don’t develop the ability create activities that don’t involve alcohol. Life can appear boring, because they simply have not learned that there is a big world out there and lots of opportunity for adventure.

Living life to the fullest is an art, which for some, needs to be developed.

Unless this art is developed before adulthood, life may be short and miserable for many of our bright kids.

There are solutions. It starts with the family. Talk to your kids and learn the truth about their life and how they feel about it. Introduce them to activities.

 Let’s change what the “in crowd’ is doing so the “in crowd” makes it into adult years and can become the leaders in society we will need.

If you know someone who needs help with alcohol treatment and recovery, call Narconon of Georgia at 877-413-3073.

0 Comments | Link to This | Back to top

Created with ShoutPost