FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (of interest to editors covering: Health/Wellness, Substance Abuse, Michigan Business) Narconon Graduate Successfully Recovers From Prescription Drug Abuse DETROIT, Mich., June 3, 2009 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Ramsy Darwish knows what it's like being addicted to prescription pain medication. In a recent story called America's "Other" Drug Problem Prescription Medication Abuse with CNN's Rick Sanchez, Ramsy shared his story of addiction and recovery and how he got help, finally ending up at the Narconon Freedom Center drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. *(Photo 72dpi: www.Send2Press.com/mediaboom/09-0703-NarcononMI_72dpi.jpg) *(Photo Caption: Ex-prescription pain medication addict now drug-free.) Darwish, like many, didn't start out as a drug addict. He did well in school, was very skilled at Tae Quan Do, and skateboarding and grew up in a family that provided him with a lot of opportunity. By the time he was 13 years old he was looking at professional skateboarding scholarship but instead started smoking marijuana. "I went to a pretty rough junior high school and began to get involved with smoking pot and hanging out with gangs," says Darwish. "As a result, I lost interest in all my hobbies." Starting off with pot, Ramsy's drug addiction soon escalated and he started using pills and other heavier drugs. Before he knew it, he had developed an addiction to opiates and prescription pain medication and was doing everything he could to get his next drug fix. By the time Ramsey was ready for help, he had already burned all his bridges. "My family was hurt and it got to a point where they gave me an ultimatum - they weren't going to watch me kill myself anymore", he says." They told me I could go to Narconon. I wanted help all a long but was scared." Despite his fear, Darwish hopped on a plane and enrolled in the Narconon program - a long-term residential drug rehab program with a more than 70 percent success rate for permanent recovery. Within weeks, under the care of Narconon Freedom Center, Ramsy started thinking about what it would be like to have a life without drugs. "When I went through the sauna detoxification program at Narconon I didn't think about doing drugs anymore," he says. "I started to be happy. I even noticed that I was laughing more." Today Darwish has been stably off drugs for several years and is happily married. He explains that the Narconon program gave him the ability to be in control of his life and to confront his problems. "I thought my life was over and I had missed my opportunities," says Darwish. "It turns out I hadn't." Ramsy's advice to others through his CNN interview was to get help. "It is important to be able to leave and handle yourself," he says. "You have to know that there's hope and that things are fixable." If you or a loved one are addicted to prescription pain medication and need a successful drug and alcohol rehabilitation program contact Narconon Freedom Center today at 877-362-9682. More information: www.freedomtreatmentcenter.com . Transcript of CNN interview: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0907/01/cnr.07.html . All trademarks and service marks are the property of the respective parties. Send2Press(R) is the originating wire service for this story, Copr. 2009. NEWS SOURCE: Narconon Freedom Treatment Center # # # // RELEASE END // MEDIA ONLY CONTACT(S): [ contact info below not for publication online or in print ] Erica Catton Director Promotion of Narconon Freedom Center +1-877-362-9682 rdarwish @ freedomtreatmentcenter.com //Note to editors: * Print-ready images may be requested from the above media contact. ......... Plain Text Copy, and Story Permalink: http://www.Send2Press.com/mediadrome/2009-07-0703-002B.txt Release PDF: http://www.Send2Press.com/mediadrome/news_2009-07-0703-002B.pdf Get our full-text news via RSS: http://www.Send2Press.com/RSS2/rss.xml RSS feeds by news topic: http://feeds.send2press.com/idx_RSS.shtml Add our news to your blog or Web site automatically: http://feeds.send2press.com/ ......... Text provided by news source (and/or the source's authorized agency), who is solely responsible for accuracy and legality of content transmitted. ......... This news story from Send2Press Newswire may be redistributed and re-posted in part or in whole by members of the media. Copr. (c) Send2Press, a unit of Neotrope(R). For news aggregation sites, blogs, and bureaus, you must retain Send2Press as the original wire service source. You may capture and self-host images linked to in above release, but do NOT stream from our server. ......... The original version of this release was issued on behalf of the above organization (the "news source"), by Send2Press(R) Newswire, a service of Neotrope(R). http://www.Send2Press.com/ ......... JULY 2009 Press Release / B-NAB US=(MI) / pre = / ytv = / agency = /END/