The war against drugs, now well into its third
decade, is faltering. The disturbingly high rate of recidivism, even after
repeated treatments, has been unchanged by the panoply of strategies implemented
at federal and state levels. The fact that they have failed to prevent a
majority of drug users from returning to their addictive behavior has led some
experts to conclude that addiction is incurable.
A review of the literature regarding existing drug rehabilitation techniques
reveals many uncertainties. In fact, none of the prevalent approaches to
treatment has been conclusively established to be reliable. Success rates as low
as 33%, not substantially higher than those anticipated from no treatment at all
or treatment with placebos are generally considered to be very good.
In view of this, it is surprising that such hazardous measures as electric
shock, drug-induced nausea, and chemically-introduced respiratory failure
continue in current use. The application of such "aversion therapy"
techniques has been particularly discouraging "Behavioral Therapies for
Substance Abuse." Published in 1985 in the International of the Addictions.
Examined more than two decades of research in the use of behavioral
interventions for the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse. The authors
concluded, "none of the studies using chemical or electrical stimuli with
drug abusers has demonstrated physiological evidence of conditioned
aversion."
The insistence on the use of chemicals to handle chemical abuse is so ingrained that NIDA currently defines drug detoxification as "planned withdrawal from drug dependency supported by the use of a prescribed medication."
FASE Associate Dr. Bernard Rimland (see "Associated
Update"), himself a psychologist, is convinced that psychotherapy has
proved equally ineffective as a means of resolving drug abuse.
"Psychotherapy has not demonstrated value in any sort of disorder," he
says. "Not depression, not delinquency, not schizophrenia, not neurosis,
not phobias, nothing. It's absolutely worthless, as far as all the research
goes, and yet it's a very common component of so many drug and alcohol treatment
programs."
The use of comparatively "benign" drugs as a means of breaking an
addiction to dangerous drugs has also proved to be frustrating, as the journal
citings referenced above illustrate. Repeatedly the intended medicine has itself
become a substance of abuse.
For example, the usefulness of methadone in reducing drug cravings remains
questionable. A study completed this year by the General Accounting Office (GAO)
found that between one-third and one-half of the patients at 15 methadone
clinics continued to use heroin, cocaine, and other illegal drugs while
receiving methadone. Nonetheless, the insistence on the use of chemicals to
handle chemical abuse is so ingrained that the National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA) currently defines drug detoxification as "planned withdrawl from
drug dependency supported by the use of a prescribed medication."
More than 6 million Americans are estimated to require treatment
for drug abuse problems. New approaches to treatment are urgently needed.
An increasing number of researchers are moving away from a reliance on Pavlovian
conditioning techniques such as aversion therapy, and questioning the
advisability of using drugs to combat drugs. They have begun to examine the
biochemical imbalances, which are created by drug abuse, and to develop means of
treating them with nutrients rather than further medication. Promising research
is also being done regarding the use of detoxification - in a more complete and
accurate sense of the word, the elimination of accumulated drug residues from
body tissue - as a treatment approach.
Dr. Rimland is convinced that a nutritional approach will prove to be as
effective in treating drug problems as it has been found to be in resolving
disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. "If there's any approach that's
going to work," he says, "it's going to be changing the body chemistry
using original equipment, like vitamins and fatty acids, amino acids, minerals
and so forth."
Although not always widely acknowledged, support for the use of nutritional
supplements to combat drug and alcohol dependence has been accumulating for
several decades. The use of the amino acid glutamine in the treatment of
alcoholism was described in the literature as long ago as 1957. Nutrients such
as niacin ( vitamin B3 ), zinc, magnesium, and vitamin B1, among others, have
also been reported to be effective means of treating substance abuse. Bill W.
the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous advocated the use of vitamin B3 in the
treatment of alcoholism.
FASE Associate Dr. Joseph Beasley is a member of the American Medical Society on
Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies, and Medical Director of Brunswick House,
the largest private alcoholism treatment facility in New York State. "A
wide-ranging treatment protocol, with a strong nutritional component, results in
comfortable abstinence for more than 70% of our patients with very low
attrition," he says, "We have observed this kind of success even in
patients cross addicted with drugs, a condition we find in 40% of those we
treat.
The accumulation of drug residues in the adipose tissue is a consequence of drug
use, which is not addressed by most treatment programs. Once lodged in fatty
tissues, drug residues may subsequently be released into the blood. Some
researchers believe that this ongoing exposure could be the basis for the
"flashback" phenomenon, and contribute to continue cravings for drugs.
To examine the phenomenon of drug storage and to determine the extent to which
true drug "detoxification" is possible. FASE associates have
endeavored to track body burdens of commonly used drugs. A 1982 study examined
the presence of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and its metabolites in
the blood, urine, fat, and sweat of persons undergoing treatment with the
Hubbard detoxification method. (It is noteworthy that although a number of
studies have demonstrated the method to be an effective procedure for reducing
body burdens of commonly encountered environmental compounds, its developer, L.
Ron Hubbard, originally conceived it to alleviate problems associated with drug
accumulation.)
An increasing number of researchers are questioning the advisability of using
drugs to combat drugs.
Analysis of samples taken before and after detoxification verified the presence
of the compounds, as well as their reduction at the completion of
detoxification. Body fat was shown to be the major storage compartment for
marijuana, with levels in fat tissue up to 80 times the level in the blood. An
additional finding was that among the components of THC found, the
hydroxy-metabolite was the most predominant. Earlier studies have demonstrated
the hydroxy-metabolite to be many times more potent than THC itself, and more
likely to enter the brain.
Additional research suggests strongly that cocaine, diazepam (Valium), and PCP
("Angel Dust") also store in fat deposits of the body, resulting in a
slow, prolonged release of drug residues into the plasma long after the
discontinuation of drug use. (Fate and Distribution of Cocaine, Diazepam,
Phencyclidine (PCP) and THC (Marijuana) A Technical Review, FASE. August. 1985.)
In order to further investigate the relationship between the reduction compounds
accumulated in body fat and future drug use, a survey was recently made of
persons with known histories of drug abuse that have undertaken treatment with
the Hubbard program to assist in the recovery from addiction.
"This survey has disclosed some intriguing information, says Scientologist
Director Dr. Shelley Beckmann. The success rate - as measured by continual
abstinence from drug use for greater than a year after detoxification - appears
to be surprisingly high. We were able to contact 45 of the 79 patients treated
specifically for drug abuse over the last six years. Of the 45, none now use
cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, antidepressants or hallucinogens, though 41 of
them had used such drugs prior to treatment
"The alcohol recovery rate is difficult to assess due to occasional social
drinking," Dr. Beckmann says. "Twenty-three of those surveyed no
longer use alcohol, of the other 22, 13 commented that they drink infrequently.
The two patients treated specifically for alcohol," Significant
improvements in family relations were reported, with many of the patients
recommending the program to others with like difficulties.
These findings are of particular interesting as current treatments for drug
abuse do not employ methods designed to actively remove drug residuals.
"Although the persons interviewed for this survey would be characterized as
moderate drug users, neither crack cocaine users nor heavy heroin users were
included - the fact that such a large number had not returned to drugs is
significant." Says Dr. Beckmann. "The findings definitely warrant
further study to determine to what extent the pattern will be duplicated among
heavier users. If a correlation can be established between reduction of adipose
levels of drug residues and lowered recidivism rates it may help to explain the
failures of programs that do not include detoxification as a component of
rehabilitation.
(For a summary of FASE studies regarding the use of the Hubbard methods in the
reduction of tissue levels of foreign compounds. See "Detoxification A
Retrospective" in FASE Reports Vol. No. 2. Winter 1988)
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