Substance abuse by itself is bad enough in that it can lead to addiction or arrest. But in some situations, drug abuse leads to sudden death. A study just released by the Institute of Legal Medicine in Seville, Spain, discovered a combination of factors that resulted in death for twenty-one drug abusers. These deaths weren’t caused by drug overdoses – it was the fatal combination of drugs that ended these lives.
The Spanish study set out to determine factors involved in sudden deaths in southwest Spain between 2003 and 2006. Through autopsies and toxicology reports, the study determined that in three percent of sudden deaths, a fatal combination of cocaine, alcohol and tobacco use caused sudden death. Among these cocaine-related deaths, 76 percent had also used alcohol at the time of death, and 81 percent were smokers.
It’s long been known that cocaine places stresses on one’s heart, a fact tragically brought to light when Len Bias, the promising young basketball star, died suddenly after using cocaine in 1986. These days, many substance abusers abuse multiple drugs at the same time. In the U.S., 72 percent of drug-related deaths are caused by poly-drug use.
In the Spanish study, 62 percent of the cocaine-related deaths were associated with cardiovascular (heart) problems. Another 14 percent were associated with cerebrovascular causes (blood vessels in the brain) like strokes or aneurysms.
The Spanish report emphasizes the importance of effective drug rehabilitation. Providing drug addiction treatment is how the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program has saved lives for four decades. Although traditional drug treatment centers have success rates of 16 percent or less, Narconon rehab centers achieve a 70 percent success rate year after year. Around the world in 120 centers, Narconon drug rehabs help addicts return to stably drug-free and alcohol-free lives, thus preserving them from the damage found in this study.
In addition, Narconon centers and staffs provide drug prevention services for schools and community groups. If you would like more information on Narconon’s drug education, prevention and rehabilitation programs, visit www.narconon.org.
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Narconon spokesperson Teddy Chambers who worked with the youth to organize for today’s march acknowleged in particular Luis Guerrero and Angela Flores (from Long Beach). These and other young people worked with other adult volunteers, Danny Flores and Ruben Vazquez, to bring youth in from 10 different cities, including besides Long Beach and Los Angeles Hawaiian Gardens, Compton, Lakewood, Wilmington, Artesia, Inglewood, Culver City, and Carson.
Sporting shirts with an artistic, distinctly styled logo, designed by the youth themselves, the young friends marched from 7th and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. to MLK Jr. Park. Ruben Vazgquez praised the kids: “They made this beautiful sign all together, working as one. It’s nice to see this.”
The holiday season has arrived; not only are we celebrating the end of another successful year of saving lives, but we are ending it with a bang. For the fourth time this year, Narocnon Trois-Rivieres will broadcast a live graduation on the Internet, December 18, 2009 at 4pm EST.
New consumers of cigarettes, alcohol and users of other drugs like marijuana, cocaine heroin and methamphetamines are youth. First use of drugs most often begins before 18 and continues into adulthood.
