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Monday, February 3, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
February 1 v 1 thru 7 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel.
Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline,
to help them understand the insights of the wise.
Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives,
to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
These proverbs will give insight to the simple,
knowledge and discernment to the young.
Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser.
Let those with understanding receive guidance
by exploring the meaning in these proverbs and parables,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
STEP 1- We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable
STEP 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
STEP 3- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God
STEP 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
STEP 5- Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
STEP 6 Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
STEP 7- Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
STEP 8- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
STEP 9- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
STEP10- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted
it
STEP 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out
STEP 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs
I posted the first half of today's Proverb along with the entire list of the twelve steps to show you how similar they are and to stress the importance of both for our lives. I believe addiction is not the problem. Addiction is a by-product of a broken and empty heart. It does not have to be drugs and alcohol it could be food , gambling , money , sex and the list goes on and on. For those of you out there who are just unsatisfied with life and no matter what you fill your life with you just cant seem to fill that void start reading the Proverbs ,there is one for every day of the month and get a close friend and work the steps and I guarantee you , your life will change for the better. The old saying goes , it works if you work it.
Sex Work and Sobriety
First I used drugs, later I became an escort. Then I got clean and sober, but it still took a while to get out of the life. 
Shutterstock
By Riot Stern
01/29/14
Around 6pm, after a manicure, I called my sponsor and went to a Pills Anonymous meeting in midtown. I really related to the speaker. Then one of my crew asked if I wanted to hit an NA meeting in Hell’s Kitchen; later I went back to his place to get his extra copy of the NA book. Checking my phone then, I saw that one of my favorite clients wanted to meet me before he went home to his wife. I figured I could do that around 11:30. Minutes later, my agency called to ask where a car could pick me up at midnight for a job in Westchester. I’d have to get home and change from jeans and sneakers to a dress and heels.
I looked at my friend, who’d watched me count days, and told him that I was a hooker. I left so quickly, he didn’t have much chance to react. I was four months sober.
I changed and did my makeup, saw my first client at an apartment he had access to, (he works in real estate) then had the car service collect me. I had to pick up “male enhancement pills” at a gas station on my way to Westchester. There, I met a doctor in his early 30s who was watching porn on two screens. He had two rubber bands on his cock and wanted a non-stop, three-hour hand job.
I left after 3am. The car service next took me to a nightclub to meet three men, plus two other escorts. I had a Red Bull. We all left the club and went back to an apartment uptown. The men were very good looking and in their late 30s—their wives were out of town at bachelorette parties. One of them gave me a hard time for refusing to do vodka, cocaine or a valium: “I asked them to send me party girls, not someone who doesn’t even drink!” He told me I was hot though. I rattled down the suicidal list of substances I used to put into my body daily, but added that he was welcome to do whatever he wanted and I wouldn’t judge him. That call ended up being a lot of fun. The guys were just hanging out and talking. Since I was the only sober one, I was in charge of making sure everyone was having a good time. Only one of the men actually wanted to fool around, so the other two girls kept him company (dancing and doing drugs) and I smoked cigarettes with the other two men in the living room. I didn’t even have to take my clothes off.
I got home at 7:30am, took a bath, read my daily meditations and lay in bed for a few minutes. Then I threw on sweatpants and walked to my favorite Sunday morning AA meeting, “Living Now.” I had bagels with my boys beforehand and saw their horrified eyes as I told them about my night. At noon—three prostitution calls and three recovery meetings since I’d last slept—I texted my sponsor and crashed. I met my commitment to qualify at a beginners’ meeting that evening. I didn’t share about my job.
My early childhood was spent on the floors of AA. Neither of my parents has had a drink in my lifetime. I rarely got drunk in my teens. But at 14, I began stealing prescription pills from medicine cabinets. And after my drug-dealing high school boyfriend moved to my suburban town, I began doing pharmaceuticals more, as well as ecstasy, special K and cocaine.
In college, I realized my biggest love was for benzos, and I scored them anywhere from the street to doctors and online pharmacies. I was the nice Jewish girl who was down for anything—I found myself in Los Angeles’ most thugged-out neighborhoods, hanging out with gangsters who sold drugs and carried guns.
At 21, I was back in New York and I started my first full-time job after graduating. By then, I was doing Xanax and cocaine daily. I OD-ed for the first time and “pretty much” quit drugs for four years, focusing on my marriage and my creative career. Still, I embraced other forms of self-destruction, from cutting to diet pills.
By 27, I was constantly doing Xanax (again), Adderall and OxyContin. After my ex from high school committed suicide by OD-ing on heroin, I was ready to set my own life on fire. I quit my job, moved out of my apartment, got divorced and cut my parents off.
I ran away to Vietnam, and checked myself into a health spa. I thought it was a detox. In fact, I’d signed myself up for fat camp (I weighed 90lbs). So I just took sublingual vitamins all day and drank or smoked crystal meth with Thai hookers all night.
Next, I ran to New Mexico, to meet a guy who moved from New York after he had ruined his marriage by doing coke and fucking whores. I did what I knew I wasn’t supposed to—closed him in less than 10 minutes and made him fall in love with me. After we finished getting drunk, we went back to his hotel and blew a bunch of painkillers, and he asked me how much I got paid.
I was confused; I thought we were just having a good time. He kept alluding to my being a prostitute, which I wasn’t: “Best whore I ever had. How much do I owe you?” Any self-respecting woman would have hated this guy. I thought I was in love with him—even when he nearly killed us both by drunk driving.
When it was over and I was leaving for New York, he advised me to be an escort, because I would be good at it, make a lot of money and have fun. My creative jobs sure weren’t supporting me. So despite initially feeling offended, I began to take his words as a challenge, and to research the sex industry.
So one day in February of 2012, I was bored at my day job and decided to start working as an escort that night. I was willing to go to extremes to be financially independent. At this point, I was just a daily drinker and had the occasional Xanax or few. I was little bit apprehensive that I would get caught, or killed, but I really didn’t feel much.
Looking to gain experience in the industry, I opened myself to working in various ways. First I researched ads posted on Backpage and Craigslist, in order to understand what men were looking for from their companions. Next, I searched online for an outcall agency that would hire me immediately.
The outcall agencies I worked for would have a driver pick up two girls around 10pm. We’d sit in the car, waiting for calls, until 7am. Most of our time was spent driving, or in Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s parking lots. The fee was split three ways: the agency, the driver and the girl. Typically I would see one or two men in a night and keep anywhere from $300-$700. Except for the night I met a drug lord from Harlem and he hooked me up with my first two bundles of heroin and paid my rent for the month. I was only with him for two hours and there was no sex involved but he knew I would be back. I was taken to fancy hotels and to sketchy neighborhoods. Most calls involved drugs; it was easy to get them from one client and sell them to another.
Next, I worked in a brothel in Long Island City. Picture a few girls—plus a phone girl and a manager—in a three-bedroom apartment, watching reality TV, reading tabloids, doing opiates and waiting. When a customer arrived, each of us would walk into the bedroom in our lingerie and introduce ourselves, so he could choose. In-calls are more popular in the daytime. The split was 50/50 with the house, and we often got tips.
After two months of that, I decided to go independent. I posted myself on Backpage. I actually enjoyed exchanging emails with potential clients; I went to great lengths to verify them before we met. I wouldn’t work past 8pm and would only see white-collar businessmen with wives—never single men. As an independent, I developed ongoing relationships with regulars. I was able to set my own schedule, with money to fund my jet-set lifestyle and support my drug addiction.
I really do have a soft spot for some of my favorite guys. I found something admirable about every man I met and enjoyed the experience of luxury, and the thrill of a double life.
Lastly, I decided in order to make more money and gain more experience to be a high-end call girl, working for an upscale agency with an elite clientele. I was able to set my own schedule and was responsible for my own transportation. I worked long nights and experienced situations that I found both glamorous and dangerous. With my low self-esteem and raging false ego, I never thought that pursuing this line of work would be a big deal. I had access to men, money, drugs and danger—I felt proud that I was such a bad-ass. I felt like I’d really come a long way from being a spoiled brat, and assumed most men would be relieved that I was so down to earth.
In no time, I went from being a daily drinker to being a daily pill-and-illegal-drug addict. There’s a lot that I don’t remember. I just medicated myself, blacked it out and counted my money every night. I was entirely detached from sex, from my body and my emotions.
It didn’t occur to me that one night of mixing Nyquil and Xanax with gin would be any more important than any other. But in November 2012, I ran into a guy that I had banged (for free) in a bar bathroom a week prior, during a blackout. He reminded me of our interaction.
He’d said, “Can I buy you a drink?”
I replied, “I’ll blow you in the bathroom."
“I want to take you to dinner,” he said.
So I took his hand, led him to the bathroom and told him, “Fuck me and forget about me.” When I was done with him, I Irish goodbye’d. I have no memory of any of it.
When I ran into him the next week, it was clear I’d made quite an impression. He spent the entire night— this total stranger—professing his love and planning our future together. In the morning, I asked if he meant it. He told me he meant every word.
So I ran away to Columbia that day and sent the guy about 30 intoxicated emails detailing my life story. For the first time in years, I was flooded with emotions. Suddenly, this stranger had made me believe in my future. I realized I needed to change if I was ever going to live happily ever after. I only saw him one other time— six months later. The timing was off and I believe our fate is to be continued. But he still changed my life.
By mid-December I was working at a coffee shop. A guy I hadn’t seen since high school came in, and overheard talk about how dangerously I was living. He asked me if I’d ever been sober. My response was, “Well, I did special K this morning, but I haven’t had a drink all day.”
Three days later he took me to my first AA meeting in Manhattan. I got a sponsor the night before I went out for the last time. My sobriety date is December 27, 2012. I now attend several recovery programs, work the Steps with my sponsor, chair several meetings a week, and am so grateful.
But I had no intention of quitting my work as an escort. I was honest with my sponsor about it from the start. Looking back, it’s incredible that she was still willing to help me.
In my first three months sober, I got a lot of legit work—and since I’d stopped spending money on drugs and alcohol, I had no desire to post a new ad or find new clients. When work with my regulars came up, I spoke to my sponsor before making the decision to see them. I was honest with them that I’d stopped drinking; most had no idea that I was a raging addict, but they all seemed to respect my decision. I went to almost 200 meetings in my first 90 days. When I shared, it was always in a general way, referring to “my boyfriend” or “my job.”
After I got 90 days and finished my First Step, I joined a new high-end agency and began working most nights. I spoke to my sponsor about it and she told me that I needed to bookend my calls with a meeting before and a meeting after, and that I needed to keep calling her every day and throw myself into my step work.
With that agency, I realized I needed to be prepared to be around drugs, alcohol, addicts and assholes. But it’s strange: The more money people are willing to pay, the less you’re actually expected to do. A client who will pay say $800/hour most likely just wants company. More often than not, there is no sex involved. I acted like a therapist, a listener to most of the clients.
I thought that if I could survive and stay sober in such a dirty industry, than what didn’t kill me would make me stronger. I would silently recite the Serenity Prayer while I was working, to keep myself present and humble. I kept sharing about “John” at meetings.
When I was in enough pain, I would work on the Steps. The day I finished my writing for Step Three, before I had a chance to discuss it with my sponsor, I decided I was going to test my faith and really try to turn my will over to my higher power—by being on call every night for two weeks. But in that time, it turned out, I was only asked to work once, for a female client at a karaoke bar. I ended up not going; my agency decided that since I didn’t drink, it would be best to send someone else.
Then things started moving quickly. One day I finally got my unemployment back after being without it for three months. That night I also got a call to work and took my last on June 25, 2013. The call was with someone very mentally ill, and I was scared for my life. The man was OCD, had not left his apartment in over a decade, was dirty, paranoid and flat out creepy. You can’t black things out when you’re sober and you can only suppress them for so long.
So it finally caught up with me that my work was risking my sobriety—and more. Another reason for my decision to quit being an escort is that it kept me from pursuing a more meaningful career path. I also knew I would be alone for as long as I did it. Being an escort is easy money in a way, but I’d been working full time to convince myself that none of it was real. I was tired of it. My job had made me a prisoner in my own sober life.
I spent all of my six-month anniversary day with my sponsor. After we finished discussing Step Three, we turned to my work. I talked about some of the traumatizing situations I’d experienced, and she told me that she had been praying for my safe bottom. In the most loving way possible, she kept reassuring me of the progress I’d made, and that I didn’t need to be a hooker.
So I decided to quit sex work, one day at a time. I deleted the email accounts my clients used to contact me and called off with my agency. I feel confident that I will never go back to that life. None of this would be possible without AA and the support of my sponsor.
At 29 years old, I have committed to a life of sobriety. I have absolutely no desire to use. If I ever pick up again, I won’t stop until I am dead. So I have decided to live in the solution and look forward to a long, slow recovery. I look forward to having a family one day, and want to live a life of service and charity. I hope that my experience will be able to help young women to have the strength to move from the illicit lifestyle into recovery.
Riot Stern is a pseudonym
Friday, January 31, 2014
January 31 v 8 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves ,for the rights of all who are destitute .
STEP 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Sometimes we gotta fight for those who are still out there lost in addiction. Most families give up and the state writes folks off as incouragble and beyond help. Who are they too put a label on someone and write them off. For those of us who live step twelve everyday know where I am coming from . No one is beyond reach and anyone can get sober but if society gives up and we give up then they will have no one. Being a passionate twelve stepper takes patience ,courage , and love . When twelve stepping never ever forget where you came from and the hell you had to go through to find sobriety. My fellow twelve steppers the best recipe for our struggling brothers and sisters success is positive , sober , patient loving advice. LOVE TEARS DOWN ALL STRONGHOLDS !
Jesus said I am the truth the life the way and no one comes to the father but through me!
CADCA 2014 National Leadership Forum Convenes Next Week
By Join Together Staff | January 30, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related, Drugs, Prevention & YouthNext week, more than 2,500 community leaders will gather in the Washington, D.C. area for Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s (CADCA) 24th annual National Leadership Forum.
The forum, which will take place February 3-6, brings together federal and state officials and community leaders from across the country to find solutions to the nation’s substance abuse problems. It is the nation’s largest training for substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals and researchers. It will feature more than 80 training courses to help participants learn effective strategies to address drug-related issues in their communities.
Topics will range from preventing prescription drug abuse and marijuana use among youth, to how to reduce tobacco use and underage drinking.
Speakers will include Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; Pamela Hyde, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Administrator; Frances Harding, Director of SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention; and leadership expert Brigadier General Barrye Price, Deputy Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army.
January 30, 2014
Join a NAADAC Committee
Share your expertise and chart the future of the nation's largest professional organization for addiction-focused professionals.
NAADAC has Standing Committees on the following topics: Bylaws, Clinical Issues, Ethics, Nominations and Elections, and Public Policy.
In addition, NAADAC has the following Ad Hoc Committees:
Awards Sub-Committee;
Adolescent Specialty Committee;
International Committee;
Membership Retention Committee;
Mentoring Committee;
National Addiction Studies and Standards Collaborative Committee;
Peer Assistance Committee; and
Student Committee.
Free NAADAC Webinar:
What Does Science Say? Reviewing Recovery Research
Wednesday, February 5, 2014 @ 3-5pm EST
(2 CST/1 MST/12 PST)
Produced by NAADAC Institute Webinar Series
In this free webinar, Bill White will review what is known about the resolution of severe alcohol and other drug problems from the standpoint of scientific and historical research. The review will include information on the prevalence of recovery as well as the pathways, styles, stages, degrees and durability of recovery. Don’t miss this important installment of the Recovery to Practice (RTP) Webinar Series, and learn about the latest recovery-oriented research from the addiction profession’s leading expert.
NAADAC members earn 2 free CE credits (Join Now) that are accepted by NAADAC, NBCC, OASAS, CAADE and the American Probation and Parole Association.
Never attended a webinar before? Get your questions answeredhere.
[ Register ] and [ More Information ]
New NIDA Resources for Treatment of Teens with SUDs
On January 23, 2014, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released two resources to help parents, health care providers, and substance use disorders treatment specialists treat teens struggling with drug abuse, as well as identify those who might be at risk.
A new online publication, Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Research Based Guide, describes the treatment approaches.
To increase early screening of adolescent substance abuse, theSubstance Use Disorders in Adolescents: Screening and Engagement in Primary Care Settings educational module was created.
[ More Information ]
Become a Nationally Certified Adolescent Addictions Counselor (NCAAC)
Raise your professional stature by becoming a Nationally Certified Adolescent Addictions Counselor (NCAAC), a national credential that recognizes the clinical standard and the highest level of professional competencies for practitioners treating adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs).
The National Certification Examination for Adolescent Addiction Counselors was developed to address the emerging need to:
Distinguish a set of skills indicating proficiency in demonstrated clinical practice when treating adolescents;
Identify a thorough awareness of adolescent development; and
Differentiate issues related to co-occurring disorders that practitioners show expertise in understanding when working with adolescents.
[ More Information ]
Apply for SAMHSA's Project LIFT
Are you an emerging behavioral health leader who provides direct services to predominantly African-Americans, Hispanic/Latino(a)s, American Indian/Alaska Natives, or rural populations?
SAMHSA’s Project LIFT (Leadership Initiatives for Tomorrow) is presently recruiting behavioral health peers and professionals who serve any of the populations noted above. This free six-month leadership development program is designed to enhance emerging leaders’ leadership competencies and skills related to health reform.
Deadline for Applications: February 7, 2014
[ More Information ] and [ Application ]
Share Your Clients' Success Stories!
NAADAC is looking for stories from clients/patients on the positive impact of addiction-focused professionals on their recovery. These stories will be used in advocacy efforts and can be submitted anonymously (please include the state they are from). For more information or to submit your story, please contact our Communications Associate, Jessica Gleason.
New Extended Deadline: February 24, 2014
[ Contact Jessica ]
Is Your Practice Recovery-Oriented?
Do you use recovery-oriented principles and practices? What is your definition of recovery? SAMHSA describes the four major dimensions that support a life in recovery as:
Health: overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) as well as living in a physically and emotionally healthy way;
Home: a stable and safe place to live;
Purpose: meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteerism, family caretaking or creative endeavors and the independence, income and resources to participate in society; and
Community: relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love and hope,
Brush up on your recovery-oriented counseling skills and practices by participating in NAADAC's Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative. Watch free webinars, read free magazine articles, attend live events, and complete a recovery-oriented certificate program.
[ Download RTP Flyer ] or [ Learn More ]
Early Bird Registration Ends Tomorrow!
Early Bird Registration for NAADAC's 2014 Advocacy in Action Conference ends tomorrow, January 31st! Join addiction professionals from around the country from March 2–4 in Washington, D.C. to learn about public policy issues affecting your clients and your profession, and bring your day-to-day experiences and stories to decision-makers at all levels of government.
Don't forget to make your hotel reservations at the Holiday Inn & Suites Alexandria-Historic District by February 24, 2014 to receive a preferred rate of $129/night. Please mention NAADAC when making your reservation over the phone at 877-504-0047.
[ More Information ], [ Conference Brochure ], and [ Registration ]
Live IL Training with NAADAC ED
Presented by NAADAC and the Illinois Association of Addiction Professionals (IAAP)
Explore the long-term impact of behavioral learning on emotional development and maturity. Join Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, Executive Director of NAADAC, on March 17, 2014 at the Illinois Certification Board Spring Conference for her training, Romancing the Brain in Recovery: Conflict Resolution in Recovery & Relapse Prevention.
This training will provide an effective, cost-efficient, feasible model for improving clients' conflict resolution knowledge, attitudes and skills and help reduce relapse and sustain recovery of adult and adolescent substance use, abuse and dependent clients.
[ Register ] and [ Event Flyer ]
Membership Benefit #1: Free Online Continuing Education
NAADAC Continuing Education (CE) credits are completely free for NAADAC members. Members have access to over 70 hours of free on-demand webinars, offered online to watch at your convenience. Simply watch the webinar/online course of your choice, complete the online CE quiz, and receive a free CE certificate to use towards your license or credential.
All continuing education provided by NAADAC has the following approval and acceptance:
National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC)
American Probation and Parole Association (APPA)
New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS)
California Association for Alcohol/Drug Educators (CAADE)
[ Join Now ] and [ NAADAC Webinar Series ]
Archived Webinar: Defining Addiction Recovery
This free webinar highlights the emergence of recovery as an organizing paradigm for addiction treatment, outline the challenges in defining recovery and related concepts, review samples of work to date to define recovery, and discuss areas of emerging consensus and continued contention in defining recovery. Earn 1.5 CE credits!
[ Archived Recording ] and [ More Information ]
Update Your NAADAC Profile
Start the year off on the right foot! Log into NAADAC to verify your contact information and preferences to make sure you are taking advantage of everything NAADAC has to offer.
[ Update Profile ]
NAADAC Career Center
The NAADAC Career Center provides a variety of employment listings at no charge for addiction-focused professionals. If you are looking to find a new career, the NAADAC Career Center can help! Check out our latest listing:
Thursday, January 30, 2014
January 30 v 5 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
" Every word of God is flawless ;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him .
STEP 3 Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
There are millions that will agree with the Proverb including myself that Gods word (Bible) is just that and the book holds the instructions for everyday life. A few years back I met a man named Clark who was an addict, He spent thirty years of his life using. When he met me I invited him to church, at first he did not want to go so I kept asking . Then one day he said to me I have tried everything else in life, I might as well give God a try. Clark had hit the bottom, thirty years of using brought him to what he thought was the end but it actually turned out to be the beginning. His story was so similar to all of ours. His mom and dad died when he was very young, addiction killed them prematurely so he was raised by his older brothers who were both addicts also. When he was around ten he was kidnapped, beaten, raped and left for dead. He survived, but to cope with all the tragedies he began using to kill the pain. What Clark did not realize was he was dealing with life by what he saw growing up. No one ever taught him about God and there was a purpose for his life and that is found in Gods word. It took Clark thirty years to realize his way just wasn't working. Going to church He surrendered (Step 1), Believing and receiving Gods word was (Step 2 ) and finally on His knees sobbing uncontrollably he handed his life over to the care of God (Step 3 ) . Clark passed away a few years back but he died sober with dignity and I realized my brother and friend touched more people in his death than in his life.
Jesus said I am the truth the life the way and no one comes to the father but through me!
DEA Joins Investigation Into Source of Deadly Heroin That Killed 22
By Join Together Staff | January 29, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed inCommunity Related & Drugs
The Drug Enforcement Administration has joined an investigation into the source of a batch of heroin that killed 22 people in western Pennsylvania, The Wall Street Journal reports. The heroin involved in some of the deaths contained the synthetic opiate fentanyl, often used during surgery.
“We do have a good idea where it’s coming from,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said of the drug mix. “We’re trying to find the source and get them off the street before there are any more deaths.”
Dr. Karl Williams, medical examiner for Allegheny County, said 15 overdose deaths in the county appeared to be linked to heroin and fentanyl. In an average week, there are five overdose deaths in the county. More nonfatal overdoses were also reported.
Officials found bags of heroin mixed with fentanyl at the scene of overdose deaths stamped with the names “Theraflu” and “Bud Ice,” the article notes. While most heroin is a tan color, these bags of powder were pure white, Williams said. “Clearly, someone has mixed up a big dose of it,” he said.
Some local law enforcement and health officials are concerned that warning drug users about the dangerous heroin mix will encourage them to seek it out for a more potent high. “A lot will chase it, and demand goes up,” Neil Capretto, Medical Director of Gateway Rehabilitation Center told the newspaper. “They will think those who died were just careless.”
Supreme Court: Heroin Dealer Can’t be Given Longer Sentence Because Client Died
By Join Together Staff | January 29, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs &LegalThe U.S. Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled a heroin dealer cannot be held liable for a client’s death and given a longer sentence if heroin only contributed to the death, and was not necessarily the only cause.
The ruling is likely to result in a shorter sentence for Marcus Burrage, who received 20 extra years in prison because of his client’s death, according to USA Today. The decision is also likely to make it more difficult in the future for prosecutors to extend drug sentences, the article notes.
A 1986 federal drug law requires a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence when “death or serious bodily injury results from the use” of drugs from a dealer. Burrage received a 20-year sentence for the drug sale, and an additional 20 years as a result of Joshua Banka’s death. According to an expert in the case, Banka’s death would have been “very less likely” if he had not used the heroin. However, Banka also had other drugs in his system, making it unclear whether heroin caused his death.
“Is it sufficient that use of a drug made the victim’s death 50 percent more likely? Fifteen percent? Five? Who knows?” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the ruling. “Uncertainty of that kind cannot be squared with the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard applicable in criminal trials or with the need to express criminal laws in terms ordinary persons can comprehend.”
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
January 28 v 23 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
In the end, people appreciate honest criticism
far more than flattery.
STEP 10 : Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
Sometimes I still respond with old behaviors without realizing it. Twenty years of running the streets become a part of me and its not like you can just shake it off. There are times when my wife will say your crazy and I will go on the defensive and say you don't understand ,and for the most part she doesn't but shes right when it comes to the way I react . I have to remember I am not on the streets and I just cant go ghetto every time something goes down. The Proverb teaches us that the ones that love us are the ones who have our best interest at heart and I have to realize she is not putting me down she is being honest and trying to help me realize I need to change my thinking and behaviors. Not everyone is out to get me and every time someone crosses me I don't have to try and get even . Most people prefer you give it to em straight especially those like myself cause most of us from the street can smell a pile of bull a mile away and we already know what your gonna say before you even say it . I call it respect and true love when you can tell a person anything . Know matter how much you think the truth will hurt say it anyway cause lying will cause a lot more damage in the long run and most still in active addiction already know the truth and some are waiting to hear the truth from you .
Jesus said I am the truth the life the way and no one comes to the father but through me !
it.Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
Our Crackhead Mayor as a Drunken Uncle
By Jowita Bydlowska
01/24/14
Thanks to the Toronto Mayor, Rob Ford, for the first time in my life, I’m getting a taste of what it might be like to live with an unpredictable, defiant addict. Let’s say, a drunken uncle. Like many people who live with addicts, in the past few months, I’d gone through a spin-cycle of feelings – disgust, outrage, compassion, frustration—because of this particular addict uncle’s behavior.
Ford has always been a sloppy politician. He has a less than impressive council attendance record, he is ignorant of some of the most important procedures of city council, he gets himself all confused about public transit in his own city, just to name a few blunders. But it is his public bottoming out that has brought him most notoriety.
Not that he came to notoriety suddenly. Before he became a mayor, he was known as that wacky councilor who’d say ridiculously offensive things such as when he compared Asian people to “dogs” or when he said that you probably won’t get AIDS unless you’re gay and/or are using needles. But it was only in his incarnation as a mayor that he became world famous—you’ve heard of him, haven’t you?—and all because of his addictive antics. Consider his most famous quote of 2013: When asked about having ever smoked crack, Ford replied, “I don’t even remember. Probably in one of my drunken stupors.”
Now, there was cautious hope among the citizens of our Al-Anonish city that perhaps things were going to get better with uncle Ford.
In November, when Ford was stripped of most of his mayoral duties I’ve felt relief akin, I’m sure, to what one might feel when the drunk-driving uncle gets his driver’s license suspended. All of a sudden, there was the hope that he would just go away for good—surely after such a public reprimand most people would lie low.
My wanting him to go away had nothing to do with the confusing compassion I’d felt for him as well.Even though he’s in denial, he’s defiant and he’s hardly asking for anyone’s sympathy, I do wish him well. Most of all, I really feel for his immediate family. Like most addicts I’ve put my own family through hell and I’ve been told what that was like, and, seriously, screw me then.
As for being on the other side of the fence of addiction, growing up, there were no addicts in my family. My father had never not come home because of a bender; I had never found my mother passed out on the floor. There were no publicly embarrassing episodes. Actually, there was one time—my father went to a party (he was 34 at the time) and came home tipsy. I was horrified because a friend was sleeping over and my father woke us up by shouting happily at my mother who shouted not so happily back at him. I didn’t want my friend to think we were that kind of family.
Years later, sitting in recovery meetings I’d listen to horror stories about drunken parents, uncles, siblings. The life with an active addict seemed to be full of crushed hopes and frustrations and then more hopes, and more crushing of them. And often there was resentment toward the addicted family member, no matter how deep of a compassion for the same addict. I remember a man sharing how he wouldn’t be able to breathe on hearing his step-father come home—his throat seemed to close in on itself from anxiety.
Ford’s trajectory has been marked by controversy after controversy: from the denials about the infamous crack tape where Ford was said to have been filmed lighting up the pipe, to the revelation that the tape does indeed exist, to Ford’s fabulously enabling family members, such as his brother, Doug Ford, or his mother and sister who on crack revelations, insisted on live television that Ford’s problem is his weight, not drinking.
There are more Ford gaffes that are becoming the stuff of future legends, such as him saying “I have enough to eat at home” when referring to cunnilingus and his wife; or pushing an elderly councilorduring a council city meeting. His behavior is erratic, bizarre. His denial is baroque.
Whenever I hear the man deny and lie and then deny some more, I feel like one of those prehistoric know-it-all AA guys with fifty years of sobriety and I think: I’m going to save you a seat, son. For those of you who are not versed in 12 steps, what I’m implying is that Ford is indeed an addict and that one day he’ll screw up enough that he will make it to an AA meeting (here I will be saving him a seat). (Not really.)
From hearing other people’s stories about living with addicted relatives, I know that hope heals as well as destroys. It destroys, maybe because it never seems to die no matter how many times it gets killed. Over time, hope becomes cruel. A thing that eventually just seems to mock you, not the thing that helps you cope with the chaos around you.
The recent ice storm and Ford’s response was sober (pun intended and not) and although not free of drama, it showcased him as the leader that he's supposed to be. He addressed the ongoing concerns and he had only once missed a public address. During the crisis, he had not driven drunk and he had not been filmed smoking crack cocaine. It seemed like that was the perfect opportunity for him to start repairing his public image. Now, there was cautious hope among the citizens of our Al-Anonish city that perhaps things were going to get better with uncle Ford. Despite wishing him well on the personal front, many of us got scared he might get so much better that he will win back the support of those who have lost their faith in him. He is running for re-election in October.
Then, on January 21st, two new videos of Ford being drunk in public have surfaced online. He has referred to the incident as “minor setback.” A setback because he had publicly announced he’s quit drinking in November 2013 (and found Jesus at the same time). The immediate admission of the January 21st drunkenness might be the only good part about the latest development in the Ford saga; the fact that he spoke in Jamaican patois in the video is a facepalm.
For now, the aftermath of the latest video scandal is causing more eye-rolling and criticism in media,the addiction experts get interviewed again and the public meltdown continues to provide fodder forheated editorials (and, most will supply great material for late-night shows in the near future). The uncle keeps on drinking.
A sober friend once told me about her alcoholic father moving back in with her in order to “dry out.” He lasted for a few weeks before going on a bender. After she kicked him out, she herself relapsed. She has not seen her father since then and has cut him completely out of her life. Sadly, in Toronto, we have no mechanism to prevent Rob Ford from running for the mayor in October. When I think about him winning the election, I see a passed out drunk uncle I’ve never had, right here on a couch in my living room.
Jowita Bydlowska is a Canadian author whose bestselling book Drunk Mom will be published in May in the US. She last wrote about the children of addicts.
Monday, January 27, 2014
January 27 v 19 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
As in water face reflects face,
So a man’s heart reveals the man.
STEP 5 ; Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
Not that long ago , I met with a Pastor and he wanted to no a little bit about my background. After a long discussion he said from out of the heart the mouth speaks. In my confusion I said what is that supposed to mean. He smiled and brought up something I had mentioned about not attending a particular church anymore .What he helped me discover was a resentment I had been holding onto that I thought I had handled but obviously had not. Leaving the Pastor that day all I could think about was how I been wronged and hurt by this church and how I kept saying to myself God will take care of it. What puzzled me was how did the Pastor know I was carrying this resentment . After a lot of soul searching I realized this had to be dealt with and it was and I felt like a weight had been lifted from me. What ever it is deep down in your heart will come out no matter how hard you try to hide it. From out of the heart the mouth speaks and sometimes we will discover that no matter how many times we try to rehearse and twist our words the true you will always come through .
Jesus said I am the truth the life the way and no one comes to the father but through me !
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