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Action Family Counseling Holds ‘The Truth About Drugs’ Symposium

Action Family Counseling led a symposium called “The Truth About Drugs” at College of the Canyons Wednesday night, where attendees could explore the hazards of drug use and what the dangerous substances can do to relationships with friends and family.


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When Action president and founder Cary Quashen took the stage, he invited several audience members up with him. Quashen asked them to read off a series of text messages he had received over the last month, chronicling the story of drug abuse in Santa Clarita.

“He has come to me asking for help, and he seems to have hit his bottom,” read one message.

Another, from the parent of a client at Action, explained that their child had relapsed and died, inviting Quashen to the memorial service.

Quashen said that addiction begins with broken contracts. He singled out the pledges children make in school to never do drugs, saying that “they mean it. They really do.”

Related: TIDE Program In Santa Clarita Offers Students Alternative To Expulsion, Suspension For Drug Use

But the reality of the matter is, he said, “once you start breaking those contracts, you start falling apart.”

Quashen cautioned against gateway drugs such as marijuana.

“Not everybody who smokes pot is going to be a heroin addict,” he said, “but almost every drug addict that I’ve ever dealt with started with weed.”

Several speakers were then invited onstage to present their own unique stories of battling with addiction.

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The first person brought up was a self proclaimed marijuana addict.

“It got to the point,” he said, “where I was waking up every morning to smoke a bowl before I got in the shower.”

He said that the drug took over his life, eventually leading to him getting kicked out of his home.

“A lot of people don’t think marijuana can become a problem,” he said, “but it became a major problem for me.”

Another speaker to share their story was a mother who lost her child to a heroin overdose.

“You can’t imagine what it’s like,” she said.

She recounted some of the life experiences that had led him to drugs, including a conversation where her son had talked to sheriff’s deputies about a stolen sandwich.

“He (told sheriff’s deputies), ‘I am a heroin addict that lives in my car. Do you really think I care if I go to jail,’” the woman said. “That’s pretty tough to think about your kid saying

Quashen ended the symposium by speaking about the dangers of relapse and the reality that drugs can destroy lives extremely easily if they aren’t stopped.

“To Hell with alcohol and drugs,” said Quashen, “and everything it does to you and everybody who loves you.”

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Action Family Counseling is a Santa Clarita drug and alcohol rehab center. Action has drug and alcohol residential treatment locations in Santa Clarita, Piru and Bakersfield, as well as intensive drug and alcohol outpatient programs in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Ventura, Pasadena and Bakersfield. Action Family Counseling supports and reinforces changes in behavior patterns so that adolescents and adults, or clients and their families, can fully indoctrinate the philosophies and principles needed to remain abstinent and stabilized for life.

Action Family Counseling

22722 Soledad Canyon Road

Santa Clarita, CA 91350

Office: 661-297-8691

24-Hour Helpline: 800-367-8336

KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Action Family Counseling Holds ‘The Truth About Drugs’ Symposium

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About Chris McCrory

Chris McCrory is the acting News Director for KHTS Radio. He set up a profile picture in his first week as an intern in 2015, and still isn't sure how to change it. He will graduate from Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism in December 2018.