Addiction isn't a weakness; it's an illness. Now vaccines and other new drugs may change the way we treat it.
Comment: This is a comprehensive addiction portal focusing on topics of alcohol and drug abuse. http://www.alcoholaddiction.org
user, alcoholism, alcoholic whatever it is, this is not good in our body . it damaged your brain and your body. being an alcoholic, we need to do something to prevent this alcohol bec. it won't do anything good in your body.
Comment: The article says what addicts need. HA!!! A chemical solution to a spiritual problem? A pill to fix a drug addict? The word oxymoron comes to mind. Aren't there enough ways for drug companies to make money already? How about a cure for HIV or Diabetes or Cancer, wouldn't that be a better pill? What about a vaccine against being a serial killer? That is almost as ridiculous as a drug to stop using drugs.
Comment: People are saying it's an illness or disease because the treatment industry has beomce a multi-million dollar business. With those kind of profits, and all the new jobs, you can expect an industry to try to present the situation in a light that would make people want to continue to seek their services (or be court ordered to attend them). Even if they have to say things that aren't true, or make things up.
Now there are new industries and treatment plans springing up to treat *gasp* sex 'addiction' and video game 'addiction'. What next, tv and soda addiction? SURE, if there is money in it! If you want to know the truth, follow the money, and the people willing to say or do anything in order to get it.
Comment: Many treatment programs are employed for the treatment of drug addicted patients. Most of the drug rehab centers employ <a href=http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/> individualized rehab treatment program</a> for each patient. This helps the patient to get the best possible treatment.
http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/
Comment: Marijuana is the most harmful drug used by many people around the world. <a href=???http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/???> Marijuana</a> is available on a large scale as it is grown itself by many people in their fields. But due to law restrictions, its use is not permitted because of its addictive property.
http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/
Comment: Marijuana is the most harmful drug used by many people around the world. <a href=???http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/???> Marijuana</a> is available on a large scale as it is grown itself by many people in their fields. But due to law restrictions, its use is not permitted because of its addictive property.
http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/
Comment: All I have to say is that it would be nice that something can help with the fight thats all. AA and other things help with this fight if it works thats one more thing to help us fight using to feel normal inside.
And for the addicts that would pefer to white knuck it without AA or some sort of theropy I wish you the best of luck each day is going to be a long one.
Comment: This is a bunch of malarchy. Addictions are not illnesses. Cancer is an illness. Diabetes is an illness. Muscular Dystraphy is an illness. Addiction is a choice. Why do I feel I can say this with such strength? Because I am an ex addict. It was not any type of illness it was just a choice that I made every day. I am so sick and tired of hearing everyone feel so sorry for addicts. Quit feeling sorry for them and make them be accountable for what they do and who they are. I believe whole heartedly in helping because that is exactly what my husband and I do. But stop treating them like they have some type of disease. Say it like it is, they are addicts because they choose to be addicts. Drugs are not going to help druggies!!!!!!!
Comment: Linniepoo, I agree with what you are saying. The Illness myth is one created to try and prop up & expand the treatment industry which is making lots of money. Also to give people addicted to substances a line to use, so they can play helpless and not take responsibility for their choices. "I can't stop because it's an illness *glugglugglug*". Yeah, ok.
Comment: This is a bunch of malarchy. Addictions are not illnesses. Cancer is an illness. Diabetes is an illness. Muscular Dystraphy is an illness. Addiction is a choice. Why do I feel I can say this with such strength? Because I am an ex addict. It was not any type of illness it was just a choice that I made every day. I am so sick and tired of hearing everyone feel so sorry for addicts. Quit feeling sorry for them and make them be accountable for what they do and who they are. I believe whole heartedly in helping because that is exactly what my husband and I do. But stop treating them like they have some type of disease. Say it like it is, they are addicts because they choose to be addicts. Drugs are not going to help druggies!!!!!!!
Comment: Can't conceive how medication could ever cure the spiritual malady component to addiction/alcoholism.
I am a recovering px pill head too and tried many meds to treat my disease. Only a Power greater than myself could get me out of my selfish self enough to experientially realize that the serenity, joy and power I always sought could only be found deep down inside myself ... paradoxically through surrendering into this Power (for me and so many other prior active alcoholic drinkers/users I know). Medication, per my experience and education, has never brought someone into closer contact with this Power that is the only guaranteed solution I know and read about from all over the world. Besides, I believe in medication as means to a natural, self sustaining end. It has a major, good role in life, no doubt. For addicts and alcoholics, it will backfire at some point because you can't put spirituality into a pill. Mother nature is more powerful than synthetics, over time, systemically. Evidence is everywhere.
Comment: AA absolutely does not take a stand against the use of medications to treat alcoholism .In fact, founder Bill Wilson spent his life seeking a medical solution. (He even tried LSD, which was touted as a cure for alcoholism.) My recovery involves working with a psychiatrist, taking my meds, and going to AA meetings. In a couple weeks, I'm starting cognitive behavior therapy, too.
Comment: Re: Article provides misinformation on Vivitrol. Be careful what you read from non-scientific articles. Vivitrol does not prevent a person from becoming intoxicated. It is the extended release form of Naltrexone. Naltrexone is an opiate agonist that blocks the opiate receptor site. It has been well researched for alcohol dependence. Vivitro (Naltrexone, ER) is considered an adjunct to therapy and recovery support. The reasearch shows that Naltrexone reduces cravings associated with alcohol dependence and persons on it tend to drink fewer drinks when they relapse. Naltrexone does not stop alcohol intoxication! There is no known drug that stops alcohol intoxication. The only drug that may prevent a person from becoming intoxicated in the first place is Antabuse. Antabuse stops the body from completely breaking down alcohol. It stops at the catalistic stage of formaldehyde, thus the person becomes violently ill when alcohol is ingested. In other words, the alcohol is turned to formaldehyde. Antabuse has had some success in treating persons with alcohol dependence. However, many just stop taking it and are able to return to drinking with no side effects after a few days.
Comment: In the Netherlands, people are not charged with even a misdemenor for possession or use of very small, personal-use amounts of even hard drugs like herion; they are only charged for any specific crimes they commit, such as driving under the drug's influence, theft to support one's habit, etc. Treatment is freely available to everyone, and can even include receiving small amounts of whatever you're addicted to, administered on the premisis of a clinic. They have NO GREATER addiction problem than in the USA, while successfully avoiding most drug-related crime. Not an ideal solution, but does an ideal solution really exist?
Comment: I learned a great deal from reading the article. However, its tone was very condescending and naive. I realize that Jeneen Interlandi needed a sensationalist "hook" (no pun intended) for the article just like most journalists who write about science and medicine. Instead of focusing on the promise of modern research into physical basis of addiction and the medications in the pipeline that might assist in the treatment, she passes a quick judgement on the "recovery industry" and creates a non-existing conflict between "the industry" and NIDAA/small pharmaceutical companies. She treated light-heartedly, even dismissively, an effective, time-tested, statistically validated, relatively cheap treatment of a "bio-psycho-social-spiritual disorder" that baffled the medical community. She aptly compared adult onset diabetics (type 2) to addicts, but instead of dwelling deeper into the simile, she concluded that "insulin" of addiction treatment is being withheld from the addicts by addiction therapy community. Well, adult onset diabetes (type II) is the most common type of DM. It is caused by resistance of the peripheral tissues to insulin, and to much lesser extent by pancreatic failure. Insulin resistance develops when adults engage in "compulsion" to eat beyond the physical need. It is frequent in overweight people. Just like addicts, diabetics??? bodies become tolerant and physically ill. They will die if not treated with drugs and, at later stages, insulin. However, profound weight reduction to normal and regular exercise are know to reverse this process in many if not most adult onset diabetics. Yet, most adults with DMII do not even attempt to reduce their weight and exercise. Some of the most overweight people choose to undergo drastic and risky stomach reduction surgery in order to loose weight. Medical science offered these people pills and insulin to live longer with less complications. Yet, the underlying cause of their illness ??? impulsion, dependence on food for emotional satisfaction, lack of ability to adjust their believes despite becoming ill from too much food intake are not being addressed, or rather, difficult to address by untrained physicians. In some way, insulin for DMII patients is like methadone to a heroin addict ??? it reduces complications and prolongs life, but it does heal the compulsion. So, Mrs. Interlandi, lets not create imaginary conflicts and drama for the purpose of discussion of modern medicine and science. They diminish the essence of modern evidence based medicine and minimize the successes of addiction medical science that relies on an effective, validated approach that Bill W identified in 1935. Allow current research to speak for itself through well-designed clinical studies. Do not compare apples and oranges. And please, don???t prophylactically vaccinate children against ???addictions??? when you educate about better living choices.
Comment: The dismissive tone in this article concerning AA and other Twelve Step groups--which it snidely labels "imitators"--is astonishing. The reason the great bulk of the "recovery industry" relies on Twelve Step methodology is that it works. And furthermore Twelve Step recovery, unlike the recovery offered by the commercial treatment industry or the new alternative drugs author Jeneen Interlandi is promoting, is absolutely free. We may know more about the biochemistry of addiction now than in earlier times, but lthe experience of addiction itself is the same old thing--there is just an ever-expanding panoply of drugs to become addicted to. And the suggestion thatphysicians might recommend that parents arrange for their adolescent children to be "vaccinated" against cocaine addiction is positively monstrous.
Comment: The dismissive tone in this article concerning AA and other Twelve Step groups--which it snidely labels "imitators"--is astonishing. The reason the great bulk of the "recovery industry" relies on Twelve Step methodology is that it works. And furthermore Twelve Step recovery, unlike the recovery offered by the commercial treatment industry or the new alternative drugs author Jeneen Interlandi is promoting, is absolutely free. We may know more about the biochemistry of addiction now than in earlier times, but lthe experience of addiction itself is the same old thing--there is just an ever-expanding panoply of drugs to become addicted to. And the suggestion thatphysicians might recommend that parents arrange for their adolescent children to be "vaccinated" against cocaine addiction is positively monstrous.
Comment: Why does the causes of addiction have to be so black and white? Why does it have to be either an illness or a matter of self control? Why cannot it be both. A malfunctioning of the brain that can be addressed with programs/medicines et al along with the individual taking responsibility for his illness and actively working on him or herself also
I am an addict and that is how I stay sober and happy.
Comment: THE TRUE PROBLEM LIES WITHIN EACH AND EVRY HUMAN BEING ON THE FACE OF THIS PLANET!!!!
TAKE LIFE A DAY AT A TIME!!!!!
Comment: So truely spoken ,one does not understand unless they have walked a mile in those shoes of understanding
Comment: Just 33 milliseconds of the sight of a crack pipe is enough to trigger cravings in an addict. If you like coffee, the scent of a cup is enough to make you want one. If you like sex, the sight of a naked body is enough to arouse you. The same goes for food and many other addictions. Until we understand that that word, addiction is not tabu, that we all suffer from one kind of addiction or another, we will not be able to treat it, much less face it. As the father of a teenage addict, I tried to make the schools aware of the problem in a manner that was not judgmental or accusatory. I hit a wall, but we cannot give up. I have turned to institutions that treat addicts with firmness and respect, such as the Hazelden organization in Minnessota. There and in other similar places around the country, dedicated people are working to help us win the war against drugs where it is really happening, in the room next door in our own houses, and not in a faraway tropical forest as some like to believe. The casualties of this war are not only the soldiers or agents who fall in the line of duty fighting the drug lords, the casualties are in the homefront and they are our own kids. The paramedics trying to keep the "troops" alive are the researchers mentioned in this article as well as the peopl who treat the addicts in all the recovery places disseminated in the country. It is there where we should put the bulk of our resources in the war against drugs.
Comment: I think this is a good article, but from experience I think life style choices and developing inner resistance to things that harm you just isn't really taught in our society. My personal experience is peolple lack a sense of inner discipline and inner strength and rely on too many outside things to change behavior when it is an inner process. There is too little support for each other in this cold, cruel world and people are really sensitive and turn to drugs because there is nothing out there that helps them. Change the way we think about ourselves as human beings and you can change everything.
Comment: There will never be a pill thats going to take away the alcoholic/ addict thought of "its going to be different this time or "i can control it" and sorry, but there is one part of the bio-psycho-social-SPIRITUAL illness that medicine will never be able to conquer. there is no medication that will EVER give someone spirituality...Addiction will never be cured by medicine or anything else. this article is a joke.
me that
Comment: Ok i meant to say im 23 years clean and pretty open-minded and really folks I would like to see addiction never be a problem again but that isnt reality..Almost a billion dollar budget last year for the NIDA is that what I read. Dayumm Gina.
Comment: Well I would love to see addiction be cured but i dont believe it is gonna happen.I'm 23 clean and pretty open minded to stuff but it sounds like NIDA just needs millions more to screw off.How about a cure for AIDS or diabetes
Comment: Ok i love the idea of medication curing addiction but it isnt gonna happen.Sounds like NIDA just would like some more money.How about a cure for AIDS or diabetes Rick in Texas
Comment: it is obvious by your comments JAK that you are as ignorant about addiction as a disease as you are about spelling and diction itself. Apparently you didn't read the article - if you did, you would understand what is common knowledge regarding the biology of addiction. Many people who are otherwise functional citizens struggle with addiction in private, and could benefit medically. I guess you have never had a health problem?
Comment: Questions for the author, Jeneen Interlandi: The 5th paragraph of your article said that NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) is investigating more than 200 compounds to block the effects of drugs. Is there any page on their site (http://www.nida.nih.gov/) that lists all of these drugs?
Also in the 5th paragraph, you mentioned other compounds that can intervene in the cortex in the last milliseconds before the impulse to reach for a glass translates into action (as you described it, "willpower in a pill"). What are the names of these compounds? Where can I find out more information about them?
Comment: It will ake a lot more then the talk form the AMA to convince me that addicts are caues by an "illness'.
So much ofr smoking and chewing gum..
SHow me the $ trail and I will show you a cure! Thes addits, including smokers should be taken off of the street. They alone have the where-with-all to stop the criminal acts that hey impse on innocents. Either they should control themselves of society should mandate a permanent "cure" for them.
JAK
Comment: I have been clean for ten years thanks to the program of Narcotics Anonymos. I believe, from my own experience and observing many others, that a true addict who tries to get clean without the help of other addicts is in deep trouble. Because "the theroputic value of one addict helping another is without parralel". I see a lot of misconceptions in this article about NA and AA and Twelve Step recovery in general. In NA we have liturature which talks about the need to take medication at times. And it all comes down to that we are not Doctors and those things are better left to Doctors. There are a small minority of people who think you cannot be in recovery if taking a "mental medication, or on pain relief due to a medical condition. I always tell them they need to check thier opinion against our liturature which tells a different story. Nowhere in Annie Fuller's story did she talk about going to meetings. I know for myself when people come back after a relapse they are welcomed with open arms and hugs. We do not consider them a failure for relapsing, we consider them a miricle for being able to come back. Well, enough outta me.
An Addict named Kevin
Comment: Jeneen Interlandi seems to have a real bias against Alcoholics Anonymous. She describes AA as a "treatment," using quotation marks in a manner that belittles that notion that AA is of any value to addicts and alcoholics. And she quotes only one person, an AA hardliner, who says that drugs are not for him--with the suggestion that this member's personal preference is somehow representative of others' experience in AA.
She might just as easily have cited an AA member like me. After 26 grueling years of self-medicating with cocaine, methamphetamine, and alcohol, i got sober during a five-month stay in 1993 at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass. I have stayed, sober, however, through a combination of AA, psychopharmacogical medications that treat my post-traumatic stress and acute-anxiety disorders, and individual and group therapy. No one in AA has ever suggested that because I depend on doctor-prescribed medications I am not truly sober. If someone did, I would ignore him or her, because the first thing i learned about AA when I started going to meetings is that while everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, no one is entitled to impose it on anyone else.
The beauty of AA in my particular mix of psychological and physical aids is that I benefit from the support and camaraderie of a group of like-minded and -experienced people any time I choose to tap into that resource.. Do try to keep an open mind about Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a valuable tool in many addicts' and alcoholics' arsenals.
Comment: Besides the medications/"vaccines" that the article mentions for addiction, many conventional meds are effective in curbing cravings, at least for alcohol. A physician can prescribe these "off-label". These include:
1. Dynacirc (Isradipine), a calcium-channel blocker for high blood pressure
2. Zofran (Ondansetron), an anti-nausea med
3. Topamax (Topiramate), an epilepsy med
You will probably have to shop around for a physician who is familiar with these medications actions against alcoholism, and who is willing to prescribe them to you for that purpose. There must certainly be additional meds that I can't recall. I hope this helps.
Comment: As a psychologist working with substance abusers it is clear to me that the ultimate solution lies in the "demand" side versus the failed and bankrupt "war on drugs." For a long time I have thought that a vaccine or similar solution is the way to go. However, the writer of the articile offers a typical "reductionist" solution where addiction can be "cured" by a biological agent. This simplistic approach has always failed in the mental health approach. Anyone active in the substance abuse field is well aware of the lifestyle issues, including manipulation, deceit, and socialization pattern of addicts. Many heroin addcits that I have worked with have co-morbid Bipolar Disorder or other major mental health problems. Crack addicts from disadvantaged neighborhoods have a crushing set of social factors that have acted in concert to generate addiction. There there are abuse issues-the sexual and physical abuse of women, child abuse, family disruption. A pill or a vaccine is a start, and I applaud the efforts of the scientists to develop them. AA and NA work for some but not for others. Their mantra that if the program does not work for someone that must be incapable of being honest or a defective person is nonsense. AA tradition says that AA has no opinion outside of AA matters. The issue of scientific breakthoughs are outside their scope, just as medication for addicts who also have Schizophrenia or Bipolar Disorder. Ultimately, it is a "program" that an addict will need for sobriety. I welcome the new biological approaches. AA and NA should welcome them as well. This is not about "territory" but sobriety. There is simply no one size fits all cure all for something as complex and multidetermined as addiction.
Comment: Dear Editor,
Addiction vaccine, or paralized consciousness?
When these drugs are given to children, look out! It is going to create mindless sheep that will be fleeced their whole lives, only to be lead to slaughter. It will be maipulated and abused and it will start with our unborn children. I pray that all addicts find the power within themselves to overcome their obsticles, and to change their thoughts and actions. Another pill or thisvaccine is just more fog clouding the vision of reality. Good luck. Inspire Peace Love and Happiness.
Comment: And the fastest growing addiction that lays below the surface and hasn't yet made a blip on anyone's radar is the addiction of compulsive gambling. The most devastating of all addictions. The most expensive addiction.
The addiction that takes only months to destroy an entire family. Let me know if you want all of the valid data for a future article. TN, UT, HI are the only 3 states where government didn't get scammed into believing casino revenue was good for the people, the city and the answer to their messed up budgets at the state level. Peace.
Comment: I myself am a methadone patient (MMT ) and have had total, uninterupted clean time for almost a decade now, and no matter how hard I try, how honest I always am with any and ALL doctors, I am treated like I was still actively using, even with all the years of negative drug screens under my belt, it makes NO difference. The people that put us down, judge us, and accuse us of being weak or just plain lazy are people who have NO RIGHT to comment on such an issue cause you don't have a CLUE what you are talking about!!!!! WALK IN MY SHOES, SEE WHAT I HAVE SEEN AND HOW LOW LIFE CAN GET SOOO FAST , THEN TALK TO US..UNTIL THEN TRY AND TALK ABOUT STUFF THAT YOU MAY ACTUALLY KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT!!!!
Comment: I myself am a methadone patient (MMT ) and have had total, uninterupted clean time for almost a decade now, and no matter how hard I try, how honest I always am with any and ALL doctors, I am treated like I was still actively using, even with all the years of negative drug screens under my belt, it makes NO difference. The people that put us down, judge us, and accuse us of being weak or just plain lazy are people who have NO RIGHT to comment on such an issue cause you don't have a CLUE what you are talking about!!!!! WALK IN MY SHOES, SEE WHAT I HAVE SEEN AND HOW LOW LIFE CAN GET SOOO FAST , THEN TALK TO US..UNTIL THEN TRY AND TALK ABOUT STUFF THAT YOU MAY ACTUALLY KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT!!!!
Comment: I would like to know on which planet Steven Paul, lead researcher for Eli Lilly, lives that the stigma attatched to depression has been taken care of by the development of Prozac. We have certainly made progress in this area, but we still have a long way to go. Having the dual diagnosis of major depression and addiction makes me extremely vulnerable to labels such as, "crazy", "stupid" and even "lazy"! This is sad and unfortunate because I have accomplished some amazing things in spite of my illness and I believe I am quite intelligent. No pill can take the stigma of mental illness away and we cannot expect this miracle with addicts and alcoholics, either. I would love to see more education for and empathy from the general population, but it will take work on all of our parts for this to happen.
Comment: I would like to know what planet Steven Paul (Lead researcher for Eli Lilly) is living on that he thinks Prozac put an end to the stigma of depression. Having suffered from major depression and addiction for many years, I find that the stigma of both illnesses is alive and well in this country. Being "emotionally ill" still causes people to talk, sometimes openly, sometimes under their breath about all of us "crazy people". I would love to see this change and I think education about mental illnesses and addiction has made a difference, I think we still have far to go in this arena today.
Comment: The last sentence of my post below was supposed to read, "Again, I can't explain why, but at some point I simply decided that I had had it with the whole business -- that enough was simply enough."
Comment: I've noticed that articles like this come out once a year or so. My reaction to them is always something like, "Well, it's sure a nice idea, but...lotsa luck." This article has an interesting twist in that the central idea of much of it seems to be, "People will FINALLY come to view alcoholism/addiction as a disease as soon as we invent a pill for it." Um, OK. Again, I'll believe it when I see it.
I had my last drink of alcohol in July of 2004. In the 18 months preceding that, I had been actively seeking treatment for my alcoholism. I knew that AA involved praying, God, smoking, talking at length about oneself, and people I wasn't sure I wanted to be around. It also seemed to me that if alcoholism was indeed a disease, then I'd be better off seeking help from the medical community.
While I was still able (meaning, before I lost my job and my health insurance due to my drinking), I went to pretty much every variety of health-care person that was accessible to me. They all said essentially one thing: "Stop drinking, go to AA." Never was there any mention from any of these people about Campral or Naltrexone, dopamine receptors or GABA, "delayed discounting", not even Antabuse.
A little baffled, I shrugged and began to attend AA meetings. Their effect on me and my emotional state with respect to my drinking ranged from none at all, to a marked increase in the depth and degree of my despair.
After months of attending AA meetings, stopping drinking entirely still didn't seem and had never seemed a reasonable or realistic option. Finally, I agreed to enter a "treatment center", it being obvious to me at the time that AA wasn't "working", and that I needed "treatment", not AA.
I then discovered what a "treatment center" really was -- a place where they throw you in with a dozen or so other nitwits and shove AA down your throat. After surviving 30 days at what I came to refer to as "jail lite", I left, and six weeks later I was drinking again, with increased fervor and urgency.
At that point, with my job and health insurance long gone, the question of whether I could find "medical treatment" for my "disease" was rendered academic. The only treatment for my alcoholism, I felt, was more alcohol, and I nearly died.
After a period of some months, I found myself in another "jail lite" facility. Again, AA was force-fed. Nowhere was there any mention of anything else described in the article. I spent the first few months of my "recovery" waiting to die.
I can't explain how it came to pass that I'm sitting here typing this today. My best guess is that I'm simply lucky. I do attend four to five AA meetings a week, and as much as I would love to profess that "the Program" is the reason I'm sober, it would be a half-truth at best. Again, I can't explain why, but at some point I simply decided that I h
Comment: As a geneticist I can show you that approximately 95% of addicted people have a genetic "starter" gene.
We are working to "disable" the starter gene so the addiction process does not begin. The addiction gene includes food, tabacco, drugs, alcohol, sex and possibly the rush of "dare devils". We are closing in on it, but now we are into ethics - are all new babies tested for this gene and vaccinated if they carry it? Can we vaccinate all new borns in hope of eliminating the disease? Imagine 100 years from now a world of people who are not addicted to food, drugs, tobacco, alcohol . . . can you imagine it? Try
Comment: The conclusion, "but there's hope that science may some day help put that power within the reach of anyone who needs it." has already been reallized. The science you seek is Christian Science which for over one hundred years has provided healings for every one of the items mentioned in this Newsweek article. You may find for yourself verified testomonies of complete heallings without the use of drugs or surgery at any local Christian Science Reading Room, or on line at SPIRITUALITY.COM. The power of the mind is infinite. when we do not limit it to merely material methods.
Jim Champaigne
Elkhart, Indiana
Comment: Great article! I post as both an addict - 20 years clean - and as one dealing with addiction of a spouse. Her DOC is Methamphetamine and has been for almost 2 decades. After living in her 'life' for several years, extensive observation, review of countless articles and board postings and years of trial and error I have found some interesting key points concerning Methamphetamine recovery. I hope this can help someone...
First I found that there is no simple recipe for a 'cure'. Each individual is unique in so many different ways that any 'cure' must be tailor-made. Some of these statements are appropriate for the masses some specific to my situation - but who knows - they might work for you too.
Second. I've found/experienced that most Methamphetamine addicts and recovering addicts when asked/observed say/show that there are no to minimal physical withdrawl symptoms when the drug is stopped cold turkey. No DT's, sweats, shaking, except diarhea.
Third. The greatest WD symptom is the cravings which are mental. This, in my situation, is best handled with sleep, alternative activities such as cooking, writing, etc.
Fourth. The absolute greatest most important factor is to change the surroundings, people, and places that were associated with the drug procurement and use. In my case the cell phone, little black book - EVERYTHING! Had to go. Don't just pack it away - destroy these things so that they never can enter the picture. Also realize that a complete restructuring of the social life has to occur.
Fifth. Realize that a choice has to be made to begin recovery and that each day - or hour - a choice to use or not has to be made.
I hope this helps someone and comments are more than welcome.
On AA/NA. Since so many have commented on these programs. I know of many that have benefitted from the programs and I know of many who use the programs to procure and sell any DOC particularly those who are made to go by court order. In my spouses case the meetings made her 'jones' or crave more when hearing and talking about drugs and were therefore not useful.
Good Luck and God Speed! GHamilton, MEd.
Comment: I think these new drugs sound amazing. I am a recovering alcoholic and cocaine abuser sober now 7 years. I went to A.A. for the first 2 years and learned alot. I think it is a wonderful organization that works wonders for many people. But it usually totally consumes peoples lives. In what I have seen from my own experiance people become obsessed with A.A I personally have been told that I really wasnt sober because i was taking the anti depressant paxil. but dugs consumed our lives before, so i guess the program would naturally consume once you became sober. The last 5 years on my own I have done fine, alone sober on my paxil!
Comment: Tom wrote: ???Comment: In the article ???What Addicts Need,??? Newsweek reports inaccurately that "Twelve-Step programs traditionally discourage members from using any psychoactive substances, on the ground that addicts will simply trade one dependency for another." This is simply not true.???
It may not be AA???s policy but it is certainly true, here is a quote from the resource you sited:
A.A. members and many of their physicians
have described situations in which depressed
patients have been told by A.A.s to throw away
the pills, only to have depression return with all
its difficulties, sometimes resulting in suicide.
We have heard, too, from schizophrenics, manic
depressives, epileptics, and others requiring
medication that well-meaning A.A. friends often
discourage them from taking prescribed medication.
I???ve known hundreds of people taking medications for addiction who have not been welcome in meeting because they are not considered ???sober??? by member even though the medication has successfully allowed them to remain addiction =free for sometimes years. Yes, I agree it shouldn???t be the case and AA???s pamphlet states it shouldn???t be???but if the members don???t agree, the problem is still there.
Addiction Survivor
Comment: Jake --
You are, of course, correct about some individuals. There are too many individual A.A. members and even groups of members who inappropriately tell others that you can't be sober if you take psychoactive medication. And that's plainly a bad thing.
But the article says that 12-step programs traditionally discourage members from using medication to treat mental illness. That is factually inaccurate. It is in no way true that the program has a traditional belief that members should not get any help they need. And it only reinforces the mistaken beliefs of bad apples when a respected magazine like Newsweek reports this urban myth as an established truth.
Congratulations on your recovery!.
T.
Comment: In the article ???What Addicts Need,??? Newsweek reports inaccurately that "Twelve-Step programs traditionally discourage members from using any psychoactive substances, on the ground that addicts will simply trade one dependency for another." This is simply not true.
The General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous (the oldest and largest ???twelve-step program???) addresses the subject of ???psychoactive substances??? very specifically in a pamphlet titled ???The A.A. Member ??? Medications & Other Drugs.???
The pamphlet acknowledges that alcoholics run risks when they choose to take some prescription drugs, particularly sedatives. But it goes on to state specifically ???It becomes clear that just as it is wrong to enable or support any alcoholic to become readdicted to any drug, it???s equally wrong to deprive any alcoholic of medication which can alleviate or control other disabling physical and/or emotional problems.??? (p. 13)
The pamphlet has been A.A. approved since 1984. It seems to me that the article???s factual inaccuracy could have been corrected before publication by a simple phone call or search online.
Tom Sklar-Blake
Comment: The best resource on the web for drug rehab and detox is LoveRays.com
I've had much success through them with the teens.
Comment: I'm sorry I thought this was an article on Omama mania. Nevermind.
Comment: There is no mention of the collateral damage from alcoholism and other substance abuse. If we truly want to keep our children from abusing alcohol and other drugs there is no more effective and cost-effective way to do so than by reaching out to those who are currently growing up with an alcoholic or otherwise addicted parent (or parents). The logic is almost stunning in its simplicity: these children are two to nine times more likely to abuse alcohol themselves than their peers. Left to fend for themselves these boys and girls are subjected to enormous burdens of responsibility and confusion. Research has indicated that as little as six weekly grop sessions with other children of alcoholics can make an enormous difference in their lives. Back in 1991 Congress declared the week of February in which Valentine's Day falls National Children of Alcoholics Week, sending a message to the 11 million such kids in the country that they are not alone. But 17 years later there are actually FEWER resources available to them. The decline of qulaity comprehensive services for alcoholics and other addicts has led to the elimination of most family support programs and supports for children. The result of this neglect is bleak and clear. Children of alcoholics score lower on standardized tests and have higher rates of truancy, absenteeism and attention deficit disorder than their peers. More than 50% of young people hospitalized for psychiatric disorders in one study were found to have at least one alcoholic parent. The rate in another smaple, of adolescent runaways, was 53%. One other study estimated that parental substance abuse is the root cause behind at least 70% of all child welfare spending. The smallest number of children continue to get the greatest amount in dollars of services with hardly a pittance going to prevention in schools and communities.
The solution is giving these children access to support groups where they can learn that their parent's drinking and other drug problems are not their fault and that they can break the cycle of substance abuse by breaking the rules at home which are always: DON'T TALK, DON'T TRUST, DON'T FEEl. They need to learn about the SEVEN C's instead - I didn't CAUSE it; I can't CONTROL it; I can't CURE it; I can take CARE of myself; I can COMMUNICATE my feelings; I can make healthy CHOICES and I can CELEBRATE being me.
The fallout from this disease is trangenerational. The collateral damage is astronomical and, while we all
live our lives in the meantime we need to recognize and respond to these children in meaningful, loving ways.
Comment: Correction: The drug referred to as Camparal in the article is actually Campral (acamprosate calcium).
Comment: Correction: The drug referred to as "Camparal" in the article is actually "Campral" (acamprosate calcium).
Comment: There are also natural ways to eliminate addiction: FreeTense.com
There are natural detox programs that have no side-affects. Good Luck!
Comment: From the article: "It had been years since the pleasure of drinking outweighed the pain it caused Fuller."
As hard as it may seem to comprehend, Fuller was doing exactly what her puritan culture prescribed for her: a healthy dose of pain. If you drink or do drugs in this culture, you should feel guilty and you must experience pain. The spiritual tag that accompanies the recovery industry's rhetoric: "bio-psycho-social spiritual" is the "spirituality of American Puritanism (now secularized). American puritanism represents hatred of pleasure in any form, viewing any drug euphoria as blasphemy, and suffering addiction as the penalty for the sin of drug use.
Obviously there is no pleasure from consuming 12 beers, two bottles of wine and a pint of Bourbon.
Obviously tolerance has taken place. But tolerance does not need to occur. Drugs can be used and not abused if people first recognize that using psychoactive substances is something that is natural rather than a disease. We are all hard-wired to get "high". In fact, it s a biological inevitability given the EVOLUTION of our human brain: "altering one's consciousness" is a basic human drive. It's a matter of learning how to use and not abuse by JUST Saying KNOW to drugs.
Part of that "knowing" has to do with managing dose, selecting the best method of ingestion, and monitoring the frequency of ingestion. This is the science of drug use. This is the code for intelligent use. This is the pharmacology that facilitates the management of the drug experience so that pleasurable use does not become painful abuse. However, our puritan culture forbids this teaching. If the current abhorrent drug war is to end, we must first bring an end to such puritan censorship.
For those seeking treatment alternatives to the traditional AA approach, check out Path to Recovery at 1-866-642-2714 - an innovative program!
Comment: From Dr. Philip Paris to Jeneen Interlandi - My thanks for bringing to public attention the problems of addiction and the sometimes frustrating effort in trying to help drug addict patients. Unfortunately, your discussion of methadone will reinforce misconceptions about the treatment of heroin addiction. First, and most important, methadone does not create addiction in anyone starting treatment for heroin addiction. While it is true that it is often important for the patient to continue treatment for a lifetime, that is not different than many medications which, if stopped, lead to serious deterioration of health. But the need to continue mediication is not addiction! Addiction is the continued use of a substance that is causing harm, the person understands that it is causing them harm, but they are unable to stop using that substance. Secondly, serious reaction from the use of methadone are extremely rare, even for someone who takes it for twenty or thirty years. The recent rash of cardiac problems from the use of methadone has come not from the clinics treating addiction, but from the pain management clinics where some of the physicians have yet to understand the long time methadone remains in the body and end up giving a toxic dose. Lastly is your comment on Lisa T. who has been in treatment, successfully, for nearly 20 years. You are critical of her attitude that she has a chronic medical condition. But that is exactly what she has, and congratulations to her for understandilng this and continuing the treatment that allows her to function as a normal person.
Comment: Not critical of Torres attitude at all. The first sentence under the headline says 'addiction is not a weakness, it's an illness.' Nor did I mean to imply that the continued use of methadone or any medication qualifies as an addiction. There is clearly a distiction to be made.
That metadone is 'addictive in its own right' is evidenced not by cases like Torres, but by those who would use methadone as a street drug - in that context it has been abused and overdosed on - again, a scenario quite different from Torres's or the many other addicts I spoke to who have achieved long-term sobriety using methadone.
Comment: EDITED VERSION: Overall, this is a pretty good article although I did note how the one patient who was able to "plan" to get drunk in the morning so she could sober up in time to see her counselor, ironically, smacks in the face of the basic premise of the article, namely, involuntary biology. Most of this has been known for some time as related to other disorders, disabilities, diseases. For example, the correlation between ADHD and substance abuse is no secret, nor, to the informed (i.e., Haarvard Medical School, et cetera) are the positive effects of treatments for ADHD on the ameiloration of substance unknown. What I'd like to see now from this author is a correlative article on the neurobiology of ADHD and how it's related to addiction, particularly how treatments for ADHD affect substance abuse and the role of ADHD and Learning disabilities as possible underlying causes of substance abuse.
Comment: Overall, this is a pretty good article although I did not how the one patient who was able to plan to get drunk in the morning so she could sober up in time to see her counselor, ironically, smacks in the face of th basic premise, namely involuntary biology, of the the article. Most of this has been known for some time. For example, the correlation between ADHD and substance abuse is no secret,nor, to the informed (i.e., Harvard Medical School) is the positive effects of treatment for ADHD on the dissipation of substance abuse unknown. What I'd like to see now from this author is a correlative article on the neurobilogy of ADHD and how it's related to addiction. That would be an article, done properly, that would serve your reading community justice. Heinrich P. Tesch von ' Cultz II LIMHP LMHP LPC LMFT NCC NCGC NCCC MAC
Comment: Overall, this is a pretty good article although I did note how the one patient who was able to "plan" to get drunk in the morning so she could sober up in time to see her counselor, ironically, smacks in the face of the basic premise of the article, namely, involuntary biology. Most of this has been known for some time. For example, the correlation between ADHD and substance abuse is no secret, nor, to the informed (i.e., Harvard
Medical School, et cetera) are the positive effects of treatment for ADHD on the dissipation of substance abuse unknown. What I'd like to see now from this author is a correlative article on the neurobilogy of ADHD and how it's related to addiction, especially ADHD and as an underlying cause of addiction, not to mention the well-known presence of Learning Disabilities among addicts.. That would be an article, done properly, that would serve your reading community a greater justice and usefulness. Heinrich P. Tesch von Cultz II LIMHP LMHP LPC LMFT NCC NCGC NCCC MAC
Comment: Overall, this is a pretty good article although I did not how the one patient who was able to plan to get drunk in the morning so she could sober up in time to see her counselor, ironically, smacks in the face of th basic premise, namely involuntary biology, of the the article. Most of this has been known for some time. For example, the correlation between ADHD and substance abuse is no secret,nor, to the informed (i.e., Harvard Medical School) is the positive effects of treatment for ADHD on the dissipation of substance abuse unknown. What I'd like to see now from this author is a correlative article on the neurobilogy of ADHD and how it's related to addiction. That would be an article, done properly, that would serve your reading community justice. Heinrich P. Tesch von ' Cultz II LIMHP LMHP LPC LMFT NCC NCGC NCCC MAC
Comment: Overall, this is a pretty good article although I did not how the one patient who was able to plan to get drunk in the morning so she could sober up in time to see her counselor, ironically, smacks in the face of th basic premise, namely involuntary biology, of the the article. Most of this has been known for some time. For example, the correlation between ADHD and substance abuse is no secret,nor, to the informed (i.e., Harvard Medical School) is the positive effects of treatment for ADHD on the dissipation of substance abuse unknown. What I'd like to see now from this author is a correlative article on the neurobilogy of ADHD and how it's related to addiction. That would be an article, done properly, that would serve your reading community justice. Heinrich P. Tesch von ' Cultz II LIMHP LMHP LPC LMFT NCC NCGC NCCC MAC
Comment: i think you are the biggest ape in the orangutang family. You should buy a new home you slut ape *** tit *** *** ***
Comment: Man, are you smoking dope!? Get a life!
Comment: i think you are the biggest ape in the orangutang family. You should buy a new home you slut ape *** tit *** *** ***
Comment: i think you are the biggest ape in the orangutang family. You should buy a new home you slut ape *** tit *** *** ***
Comment: I hate when people who do not work in the medical field or that specific medical specialty write articles, they miss half the story and have no real life experience in the field. It is an illness but it is much more, usually involving psychological and behavioral problems which could or could not have been present before the addiction problem. Depending upon the supposed expert, some lean more towards it being a purely biochemical problem as she's suggesting and others feel it's purely behavioral, probably a combination of the two. Don't ignore the borderline personality characteristics involved, taking care of the manipulation, pathological lying, and rationalizing that are essential to all successful addicts is more important and more essential than any drug for addiction. R.N.CCRC/researcher/med.writer.
Comment: Good Question. Dis Ease or not at ease, hmmm well disease or not, Freetense.com is highly recommended for gently detox OFF of Addiction. Try some of their products. We did with my brother and it helped him tremendously.
Comment: Addiction a disease? Not in the true sense of the word. According to RecoveryNation.com, it is a behavioral pattern ingrained to help one manage a life that they cannot manage in healthier ways. Thus, rebuilding one's value system and learning to use that value system as the primary source for managing one's life and emotions is the surest path away from addiction.
Comment: Addiction a disease? Not in the true sense of the word. According to RecoveryNation.com, it is a behavioral pattern ingrained to help one manage a life that they cannot manage in healthier ways. Thus, rebuilding one's value system and learning to use that value system as the primary source for managing one's life and emotions is the surest path away from addiction.
Comment: I think addicts need a boost of self esteem and get their heads together instead of being a pest, parasites and waste of resources for the human race. They are not victims but self destructive individuals who do not care for nobody else but themselves. They destroy themselves and everybody around them.
Comment: This type of disease relates to the brain, not to the immune system. The first sip, or pill, or drag is a choice, but how the brain reacts to the chemical make-up of the drug is not a choice.
Comment: Addiction is not a disease but a choice of lifestyle. I used to be an addict for years but then I realized that I destroyed my familly and myself and I stopped abusing myself. Now, I respect and take care of myself and my family. My choice won. I was not a victim but a selfish egoistic individual. Now I changed and made a choice for the better. Don't tell me they cannot do it. Nothing is impossible if you really want to quit being an addict.
Comment: I agree with thrasher32, that they addicts should get some help, but to continue to help themis spending good money after bad. If they do not want to help theirself then whay should society be burned with the expense of this sprawling problem. Some call it a sickness and being anurse myself I would never let a person suffer but when I see a person deliberately doing to themself that if another person did it to them they would be imprisoned! Look at our hospital ER's on a Friday or Saturday night, it is plaguged with people that do not give a rats patooty about what theyare doing and that they may have family or friends that happen to care about them. But, what are they doing pounding salt into the wound, would be a real understatement. Then all of us that have to work and pay into taxes are not afforded the care that a druggie gets because they code, and the person in the next cubicle comes in from being in a car accident and now the time we could spend saving lives must be spent on the self induced addict. This litterally makes me ill and it something has to be changed in our country and we must all adopt a zero tolerance to illegal and in some cases legal addictions. So do we need a change in our health care system, let us all start here. Because if you try to help and addict more than three times, and they do not assist in their own care, then why should we as a society be placed with such a heavy burden? One will never change a bad attitude, and if they do not offer some support for their own care, including the cost , then again, why should we as a society? Think about this, and it will make sense, and cents, on top of it all. Thank you.
Comment: Ggemma20, you're on the front lines and I hear you and respect what you have to say. At some point, after doing all we can for someone, we may have to write them off, as much as it might hurt to do so. An addict affects so many lives, their families, their friends, their crime victims, it's just a waste, and at some point we have to cut our losses, as a society.
I don't think we should not have to foot the bill for health care, prison space, court time, law enforcement, etc for people that have no ambition but to get high and refuse help over and over again, but since we have no choice in tending to these people's problems, I would just like to see these billions of dollars we spend every year on ineffective drug law enforcement maybe spent treating addicts (who want help), maybe provide them with training them to become useful members of society, and especially TRUTHFULLY educating kids about the very real dangers of ALL drugs and alcohol, so that in the future, hopefully, drug addiction will decline to a managable, and hopefully negligible level. Of course that may mean that Eli Lilly makes a billion less per day, or Anheuser Busch sells a few less beers, and R.J. Reynolds goes out of business, but what is more important, profits or people's lives???
The disheartening thing is that the politicians are the ones who need to make the changes, to have the courage to stand up to the status quo and the lobbyists and get a real dialogue going. Think about it, this is the biggest election in our lifetimes, with many politicos in the spotlight, and we have not heard a single word about the drug problem, or how we can do anything new about it. I realize that there are more important things happening in the world right now, but drug and alcohol abuse is wayyyyy up there on the list of major world problems, claiming hundreds of millions of victims, both directly and indirectly, every year. We have to do something different.
GGenma20, You're a nurse in an ER. How many people do you see that come in because of marijuana related ANYTHING? Now compare that to the alcohol and drug related cases that come in and you tell me whether we should be spending 75% of our drug fighting budget on Marijuana suppression? That's all I'm saying, dump the war on Marijuana and use all of that money (20 BILLION!!) on fighting the dangerous drugs and treating the addicted. It's not a perfect solution by any means, but it's a step in the right direction and it costs us NOTHING! Crack, meth, heroin, alcohol, nicotine, this stuff is DEADLY and way out of hand, we need to stop wasting our money on stupid pot and focus on these dangerous narcotics.
Comment: Think about it: a drug to combat another drug. Does that make any sense at all? No, folks, drug addiction is a philosophical problem. People become addicts due to a particular outlook on life which leads to substance dependence. A man who believes all women are witches, for instance, likely will never marry. His not marrying will mean that he will have no children. That then will lead to his having no one to take care of him when and if he gets old. Well, you get the picture. One's attitude determine's one's actions or inactions which then lead to habits and consequences. Overcoming ANY addiction requires a complete overhaul of one's philosophy about life.
Comment: I totally agree with that, an addict cannot be cured, no matter how much treatment you send him/her to or how much you try to forcefully coerce them, until they WANT TO STOP.
The real question is how do we help the addicts who do want to stop? Right now all the money goes to law enforcement, and very little to treatment and education. It's been shown in study after study that treatment and (some) preventive education can be up to 7 times more effective in reducing drug use, dollar for dollar, than law enforcement.
We should be able to learn something from 90 years of failed drug policy.
Comment: Even if they "WANT TO STOP" they are never "cured." Compassion is good medicine.
Comment: See, they keep making everything a DISEASE so people will act like they had no responsibility. Since when is it mandatory in this life to DRINK ALCOHOL, DO DRUGS, SMOKE CIGARRETES ETC.
It's not - the only addiction that I can maybe accept is medical addiction to prescription drugs following dispensing by a physician - because these folks didn't tell the doctor what drug to prescribe.
All the rest is human choice.
Comment: I agree that it is a person's choice to use drugs, but I do think that addiction is a disease. It's been shown that some people are predisposed to becoming addicts or alcoholics, but nobody knows who is predisposed and who's not. While one person can drink responsibly, another person will become an alcoholic.
Generally, people experiment with drugs and alcohol when they're young and don't have the (accurate) information or maturity to make smart choices, then, inevitably, some of them become addicted. Other people just cannot seem to cope with life in general. Either way, I think these people need help, not to be beaten down and locked up. Now if they commit violence or other crimes because of the addiction (or not, for that matter), then I think they should be punished, and if they cannot lead a crime-free life then they should be taken out of society.
Comment: i was once an alcoholic and also abused drugs and i was also a nurse i also was told if i didnt stop i would die within a year i was also a chain smoker well i had some choices to make didnt i and i chose to quit it all cold turkey thats why i know you can give up bad habits with self control and people who keep doing these things do them because they want to do it and they like to do it and that is the real reason not some brain disorder that is a crock i have been in medicine for years and thats a bunch of crap if you have 2300 dollars to spend on crack you can send it to me ill use it more wisely haha no pity here get a life
Comment: Advocates for vivitrol and other medications like it completely miss the point when it comes to 12 step recovery. These drugs do nothing to help the addict learn to live sober, to clean up the wreckage of the past, or, for that matter, how to stay sober. While the most important part of any 12 step program is staying clean and sober, it's really a guide on how to live life. And somebody who uses a pill or injection to stay sober misses out on the fellowship of AA. The best people I know, the most compassionate and least self-centered people I know, I met in the rooms of AA. There is no substitute for that.
Comment: Sorry about your boyfriend. Click on the links at FreeTense.com for his addiction. It helps. Good Luck!
Comment: I am an addict. I have used every means available to help me be productive. The author sites "the thinking from 12-Step or from family was that I had failed". AA states the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. AA encompasses a concept of tolerance in every respect. AA also suggests a total way of living that does not exclude modern medical treatments. I relapsed after 9 years of sobriety. I am clean now for 5 months. The members in AA in my local area are encouraging me to seek outside help. I am seeing a therapist and working closely with a physician to stabalize my moods. My AA sponsor also encourages eating right and hexercise and meditation. THe more tools available to help addicts the better. II choose to use all of them today.
Comment: If only these solutions were readily available to the general public for free. My boyfriend just spent the past 4 days straight smoking about $2300.00 of crack cocaine. He has been trying to stop for 12 years and just can't. His brain is in the terrible cycle of addiction and I fear that he will die soon. He's lost his job, I've thrown him out and he still can't stop. For those that think addiction is a moral weakness, you are wrong. it is a brain disease and some powerful treatments are desperately needed. I only hope that something will become available before he kills himself.
Comment: I only wish I could get some type of antidote, vaccine, anything that would help my boyfriend, a crack addict. He just spent the past 4 days smoking about $2000.00 of crack. He cannot stop and I fear he will soon die. He has no money (not anymore), lost his job, and I've thrown him out. But he still can't stop. It is not possible. His brain is in the cycle of addiction whiere all that matters is getting high. It is extremely sad. If only some type of drug was readily available for especially those who don't have insurance.
Comment: Cimmy. There is something that can help your friend. If you call 1-800-700-5500 they will help you figure this out...
Good luck...
Comment: Cimmy. If you're in fear of your friend hurting himself or worse, you should call 1-800-700-5500 and talk to anyone there. There is something that will work for your friend.
Good luck..
Comment: Treating alcoholism as a simple chemical alergy ignores the psychological dimensions of the problem. Yes, it is biological as any other alergy, but it also has deep-rooted psychological components that need to be treated as much as the chemical component. I would hate for the big Insurance compnaies to start treating alcolholism as a simple "tale two of these and call me in the morning" treatment. From such narrow minded thinking comes the very common phenomenon as the "dry drunk" and other characterizations. As a continually treating alcoholic myself, I have learned the importance of dealing with the psychological and spiritual dimensions of my disease along with the chemical/biological aspects. Only then can I really learn to live with sobriety and face life on life's terms. These things are often much more difficult than simply abstaining from alcohol.
Comment: Absolutely. Good post, thank you.
Comment: I write about adolescent addiction at motherwarriors.blogspot.com and am a member of the Parent Advisory Board of Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Comments on the blog sho
