Children of Addicts | The Fix

Children of Addicts | The Fix

January 24 v 28 v 29 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

 Don’t testify against your neighbors without cause;

don’t lie about them.

And don’t say, “Now I can pay them back for what they’ve done to me!

I’ll get even with them!”

STEP 6 : Were entirely ready to have GOD remove all these defects of character. 

Resentments must be put to rest or you will certainly relapse. If your committing step six this is your opportunity to do just that. Holding onto resentment poisoned my mind and I wasted countless years thinking of ways to get even with everyone who hurt me or who was trying to hurt me. This includes the people in my life who I tried to control too feed my addictions. I hated them because they would not give me what I wanted. Resentment , anger , and bitterness are a cancer that will eat you alive . The Proverb is a warning and what ever you do unto others will be done unto you. Step six is the opportunity to let it all go and trust GOD to renew your heart and transform your mind . GOD will restore and rebuild your life but you must first let HIM remove all defects of your character.

President Obama Says Marijuana is Not More Dangerous Than Alcohol

By Join Together Staff | January 21, 2014 | 10 Comments | Filed in Alcohol &Drugs


President Obama told The New Yorker magazine he does not think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol. He added smoking marijuana is “not something I encourage.”

He acknowledged he smoked marijuana in his youth, the Associated Press reports. “I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life,” he said. Obama added he has told his daughters he thinks smoking marijuana is “a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy.”

Last fall, the U.S. Justice Department announced it will allow Colorado and Washington to carry out their new recreational marijuana laws. The department said it will focus enforcement on criminal charges in specific areas, such as distribution to minors.

The announcement ended almost a year of debate within the Obama Administration about how to react to the state laws, which allow personal possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for anyone at least 21 years old. They also permit marijuana to be sold and taxed at state-licensed stores. Federal law outlaws the production, possession and sale of marijuana.

In the magazine interview, Obama expressed concern at the disproportionate number of minorities who are arrested and imprisoned for marijuana use. “Middle-class kids don’t get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids do,’’ he said. ‘‘And African-American kids and Latino kids are more likely to be poor and less likely to have the resources and the support to avoid unduly harsh penalties.” People who use marijuana should not be imprisoned for long periods when the people who write the drug laws “have probably done the same thing,” he noted.

He expressed caution about changing marijuana laws. He said people who think legalizing marijuana will solve social problems are “probably overstating the case.” He added, “And the experiment that’s going to be taking place in Colorado and Washington is going to be, I think, a challenge.”

January 23 v 29 Through 35 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?

Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?

Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

 It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,

trying out new drinks.

 Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,

how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.

 For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;

it stings like a viper.

 You will see hallucinations,

and you will say crazy things.

 You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,

clinging to a swaying mast.

 And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn't feel it.

I didn't even know it when they beat me up.

When will I wake up

so I can look for another drink?”

STEP 1 ; 11 We admitted we were powerless over drugs and alcohol– that our lives had become unmanageable.

Usually I use one or two verse from the Proverb but all of this needs to be shared . The bible was written a little over two thousand years ago. This is a warning for us not to get caught up in alcohol. Why didn't they share this with me when I was a kid in Catholic school maybe if the teacher told me when I was younger , that drinking bites like a poisonous snake , it might have scared me into right thinking and I could have avoided addiction in my life. For those of you getting up early searching for the drink or drug you need to commit a sincere step one. Early prevention is key ,so Moms and Dads share this with your kids we have more that enough addicts in the world . This was not written two thousand years ago for no reason ,it was written as instruction and warning for us to avoid alcohol .

. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.

National Drug Facts Week to Promote Conversation About Drugs With Teens

By Join Together Staff | January 21, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs,Prevention & Youth

During National Drug Facts Week, January 27 to February 2, communities and schools around the country will host events to allow teens to learn how drugs affect the brain, body and behavior.

National Drug Facts Week, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), is designed to counter the myths about drugs that teens get online and from TV, movies, music and friends, by presenting them with scientific facts about drug abuse and addiction. Teens and experts will come together in school assemblies, after school clubs, athletic events, book clubs and other venues.

According to NIDA, about one-third of high school seniors report using an illicit drug sometime in the past year. More than 10 percent report nonmedical use of potentially addictive prescription painkillers, and more than 20 percent say they have smoked marijuana in the past month.

NIDA notes that many teens are not aware of the risks that drugs present to their health and to their success in school, and of the dangers while driving under the influence. “When teens are given the scientific facts about drugs, they can be better prepared to make good decisions for themselves and they can share this information with others,” according to a Drug Facts Week fact sheet.

For more information about events, materials and experts, visit theNational Drug Facts Week website.

Combating Substance Use Disorders in the Armed Forces

By David C. Lewis, MD | January 22, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed inAddiction, Military & Prescription Drugs


The United State Congress was worried. The public was worried. They worried about an opioid prescription drug epidemic and widespread binge drinking in the military and the number of suicide deaths that exceeded battle fatalities. They worried about alcohol and drug problems that impaired both combat readiness and, with multiple deployments, the functioning of a growing number of troops with PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Congress acted by turning to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to analyze the problems and recommend solutions. The IOM Committee report “Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces” was delivered to Congress and the Department of Defense (DoD) in September 2012.

The IOM conducted a comprehensive analysis of the substance use disorder (SUD) problems by reviewing Department of Defense policies and practices and by hearing from both the military commanders and the troops themselves at bases throughout the USA. It found that identifying the problems was relatively easy. Solving them is not.

Much of military culture is built around the goal of fitness and combat readiness. Soldiers with SUD problems present a clear risk to this goal.

The approaches to SUDs in the civilian world – screening and diagnosis followed by referral to treatment programs – have not been common in the military. Confidentiality is hard to come by. The military relies almost exclusively on drug testing as a deterrent. Seeking help voluntarily is discouraged by a system in which behavioral diagnoses are routinely reported to the commanders who then frequently take disciplinary action. When service members’ problems become known, there is a good chance that their military careers are over. A lot of energy by our armed forces is going into not getting caught.

Short term treatment is the rule. The fact that longer-term addiction treatment such as opioid maintenance is generally unavailable creates a mismatch with the chronic nature of addictive disorders.

The IOM recommended that addiction screening, diagnosis and initial treatment for SUDS be integrated with care for mental health conditions and with ongoing medical care, particularly primary care. The IOM recommendation that each service branch needs to provide options for the confidential treatment of alcohol use disorders focuses solely on alcohol for two reasons. First, some alcohol use is permitted under military policy and a limited confidential counseling pilot program for alcohol problems already existed in the army. Second, the military’s zero tolerance drug policy suppresses even a confidential disclosure of unapproved drug use. Zero tolerance and confidentiality don’t mix well.

In general, the military system would do well to institute reforms to achieve closer compliance with current civilian clinical practices. These are spelled out in the Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Substance Use Disorders which was developed jointly with the DoD and the VA. The IOM detailed what needed to be changed to adhere more closely to the Guideline.

The DoD is taking the IOM report seriously and has issued a separate report with a point-by-point discussion of its plans in response to the IOM recommendations.

One hopeful sign is that in the fall of 2013 the DoD issued new regulations, agreeing with one forceful IOM recommendation, to remove a decades long policy restricting TRICARE insurance coverage of pharmacotherapy (methadone, buprenorphine) for opioid maintenance treatment.

The military leadership has acknowledged that SUD problems can be prevented and they can be treated when detected early addressed with interventions that allow some degree of confidentiality and are delivered in a consistent evidence based way. The proof of progress awaits the implementation of reforms.

David C. Lewis, MD
Professor Emeritus of Community Health and Medicine
Donald G. Millar Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Alcohol and Addiction
Studies
Brown University
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies