The Addict’s Mom is moving forward, on our mission to “Transform the perceptions of addicts and their families, saving the lives and futures of those who matter most . . . the children.”  But there are so many hurting moms we haven’t reached yet.  So many mothers who don’t know there is a place they can share without shame.  A place of support, where they won’t be alone and they can find hope, comfort and acceptance from other mothers going through the same experiences.  This is still the main purpose of The Addict’s Mom and I will never give up hoping to reach that mom, that addict’s mom who was and is me. The Addict’s Mom is thrilled to announce chapter groups. Join with members from your state to take action and make a difference today. These are closed groups where you can share your story, make new contacts, gain awareness and reach out to others who have a loved one suffering from a substance abuse disorder or co-occurring mental illness. To locate the Addict’s Mom chapter group in Florida visit www.facebook.com/groups/TAMFlorida   To locate another state use www.facebook.com/groups/YOURSTATE For the Addicts Mom main site visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/theaddictsmom/

Visit The Addict's Mom at: http://addictsmom.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Like us on Facebook                        www.RecoveryWalks.org                       Follow us on Twitter Saturday, September 20, 2014  Penn's Landing, Philadelphia

YOUR LOGO could be on our huge 2014 Recovery Walks  billboard like this on I-95 in Philadelphia for two months:      How Can You Do That? Click HERE to get a Sponsorship Agreement Complete the agreement at the Grand, Presenting, or Gold Level Submit your form to Marita HERE or to the address on the form And do that by the Billboard Deadline of JULY 7 Other Sponsors Deadline All other Recovery Walks! 2014 sponsors should submit their sponsorship agreements by  August 1 at the latest to the address on the form. If you have any questions about sponsorship, please email Marita HERE.   While those dates are the deadlines, please remember  that the earlier you submit your Sponsorship Agreement, the earlier you can begin enjoying the many benefits--such as your logo and name, with a live link to your website, on the Sponsors page HERE. Have You Seen the  Video of PRO-ACT Recovery Walks! 2013? Click here to see it  How We Use Proceeds From the Walk Proceeds from the Recovery Walk will go toward the expenses of the Walk in addition to providing the many recovery support services of The Council and PRO-ACT. Walk expenses include renting the Great Plaza; parking; booths and tables; billboard and hugestage banner; and other banners and signage. Less obvious expenses are the official and volunteer t-shirts; required additional security and law enforcement; ribbons and buttons for the Honor Guard; refreshments for our 400 volunteers; printing of Walk programs; website maintenance; the Recovery Walk video, and numerous promotional materials.  Recovery Support Services Proceeds from the Walk also help us to continue our success in offering hope and healing to those wishing to initiate, stabilize, and sustain long-term recovery from addiction. There are approximately 23 million Americans living in recovery today, holding jobs, paying taxes, and living with respect in their communities. You may not recognize them as being in recovery--but they are among your neighbors, co-workers, family members, and community leaders. We're grateful that, with your support, we are able to continue to provide services to many in our communities.  PRO-ACT offers these services in four recovery community centers and a training center where we provide mutual support, training, and a place to volunteer for committees. Trained recovery coaches, certified peer specialists and mentors provide tools for sustaining recovery; financial planning; employment consulting; health, education and housing information; and encourage participation in community service. Those individuals and families, pregnant mothers, veterans and the unemployed who benefit reclaim lost lives and improve their well-being and the well-being of their communities. They, in turn, can offer invaluable assistance to others seeking long-term recovery. Please show your support of recovery from addiction by becoming a Sponsor. Learn about Sponsorship HERE, follow directions on the Sponsorship Agreement, and submit it by the deadlines above. Register to walk, form a team,  make a donation, join the Honor Guard, or volunteer to help by clicking HERE RECOVERY IS REAL To make a donation to the Recovery Walk, please click here

MARCH 13 v 16 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

Wise people think before they act;

    fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness.

STEP 6 -  We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10)

This one should include speaking  ! For a while there , I thought my  foot was a permanent part of  my face because I was always putting it in my mouth. The latter part of the Proverb was me in addiction . Sober is the former part but it does not come naturally . In order to keep your self still and quiet in difficult situations , you have to have the emotional roller coaster in a hold pattern at the platform .Most of the time I do , but there are times I release the coaster with no safety devices in place and its gonna run wild and out of control like my mouth and life. Dysfunctional comes naturally in addiction . Working the steps teaches us too keep the emotional roller coaster parked .The coaster cannot park it self it must be moved by controls set in place before hand  .  The same goes for your recovery and know these wont come naturally they must be developed by hard work and a whole lot of prayer .

Eliminating Barriers IS Smart Drug and Crime Policy

By Roberta Meyers | March 12, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Community Related, Drugs, Government, Healthcare & Legislation

Smart drug policy is inextricably linked to smart crime policy. When treatment of substance use disorders (SUD) is the primary response to criminal behavior tied to untreated addiction and use, it has a profound impact on reducing not only costs to the public safety system but also to the health care system. However, crime and drug policy do not end there. Ensuring the successful reintegration of justice-involved individuals into the community is equally important to ensuring that people get the care and supports they need. Yet many people in recovery face an overwhelming array of discriminatory barriers as a result of their addiction and/or criminal histories, which make it difficult to obtain employment, housing, education, public benefits, and other necessities of life.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the nation engaged in a “war on drugs” that led to the United States having the largest incarcerated population in the world. Legislators enacted policies that erected collateral consequences or extended punishment for people with drug convictions beyond completion of their sentences. These policies stripped away from millions of people, including many in recovery, rights and eligibility for vital services. While in most cases, states were permitted to opt out of these bans, the message across the country was clear¹.

YEAR	FEDERAL LAW	EFFECT
1992	Federal Highway Apportionment Act	Permits the federal government to withhold 10 percent of certain highway funds unless a state enacts a law revoking or suspending the driver’s license for at least 6 months of anyone convicted of any drug offense whether or not it involved the operation of a motor vehicle under the influence of such a substance.
1996	Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act	Prohibits anyone convicted of a drug-related felony from receiving federally funded food stamps and cash assistance (also known as TANF – Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). This is a lifetime ban — even if someone has completed his or her sentence, overcome an addiction, been employed but got laid off, or earned a certificate of rehabilitation.
1996	Housing Opportunity Extension Act of 1996	Requires: 1) PHAs to deny public housing to any individual evicted from public housing because of drug-related criminal activity for three years following the eviction unless the individual completes drug treatment and 2) denial of admission to public housing and permit eviction from public housing, respectively, for individuals who are illegally using drugs or whose pattern of drug or alcohol abuse interferes with the health, safety, or enjoyment of other tenants; PHAs and landlords may consider evidence of rehabilitation in determining whether to enforce the exclusion or eviction.
1997	Adoption and Safe Families Act	Bars people with certain convictions from being foster or adoptive parents and prompted State foster care systems to act aggressively to terminate parental rights of parents who test positive for drugs.
1998	Higher Education Act of 1998	Made students convicted of any drug-related offense ineligible for any grant, loan or work assistance. This federal legal barrier cannot be altered by the states.

Legal Action Center and others continue working to eliminate these barriers by encouraging states to modify these bans. Advocates have continued to educate Congress about the impact collateral consequences has on the health and public safety systems. There has been some encouraging progress in the states and at the federal level. Several states are considering modifying their state laws and policies to be less restrictive and more supportive of reentry. These policies include adopting criminal record anti-discrimination protections; employer hiring standards and incentives; expungement or sealing of criminal records; eliminating the ban on TANF and/or SNAP benefits; creating special housing programs and assistance; and other reentry initiatives that support rehabilitation.
The Obama administration has shown a strong commitment to improving reentry. The U.S. Attorney General established the Interagency Reentry Council, whose membership of over 20 federal agencies is coordinating and advancing reentry policies and removing barriers to successful reentry. The Attorney General also announced its “Smart on Crime” initiative that directs focus on pursuing alternatives to incarceration for low level offenses and reduce unnecessary collateral consequences for people with criminal histories. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released important guidance on the use of criminal records for employment purposes and discouraged blanket bans against hiring people with criminal histories. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development issued guidance to all the country’s housing authorities highlighting their broad discretion to admit most people with criminal records into housing. There has been progress in eliminating these discriminatory federal policies against people in recovery and those with criminal histories, but more can and must be done to truly reform our policies to promote health and justice.
[1] See Legal Action Center’s publication After Prison: Roadblocks to Reentry. (Updated 2009).

Fight Against Prescription Drug Abuse May Have Fueled Heroin Use: Experts

By Join Together Staff | March 12, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Drugs & Prescription Drugs

Some addiction experts say the U.S. government’s fight against prescription drug abuse may have inadvertently contributed to the rise in heroin use, according to The Washington Post. Now that some pain medications are less available and more expensive, many people who used to abuse those drugs have switched to heroin, which is cheaper.
The crackdown on “pill mills” has helped to reduce the illegal use of medications, the article notes. But many people who had abused prescription opioids simply switched to heroin, which provides a comparable, euphoric high.
“Absolutely, much of the heroin use you’re seeing now is due in large part to making prescription opioids a lot less accessible,” said Theodore Cicero of Washington University in St. Louis, who co-authored a 2012 study that found OxyContin abuse decreased after the painkiller was reformulated to make it more difficult to misuse. Many people who abused the drug have switched to heroin, according to the study.
The study included more than 2,500 people who were dependent on opioids, who were followed between July 2009 and March 2012. During that time, there was a 17 percent decrease in OxyContin abuse. In 2010, the company that makes OxyContin introduced a new version of the drug that is more difficult to inhale or inject. During the same period, heroin abuse doubled.
According to Cicero, the government could have taken steps sooner against heroin use, such as by promoting the use of medicines to fight overdoses and ease symptoms of withdrawal.
Not everyone agrees that the crackdown on prescription drug abuse has led to the rise in heroin use. Joseph T. Rannazzisi, who runs the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Office of Diversion Control, told the newspaper, “I don’t think one thing has anything to do with the other.” He noted many lives have been saved by the effort to reduce prescription drug abuse.

Alarming Rise in American Adults Taking Medications for ADHD

By Join Together Staff | March 12, 2014 | Leave a comment | Filed in Parenting, Prescription Drugs, Treatment, Young Adults & Youth

The number of young adults in the U.S. taking medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) nearly doubled from 2008 to 2012, according to Express Scripts, the nation’s largest prescription drug manager, The New York Times reports.
In processing prescriptions for 90 million Americans, Express Scripts found that almost one in 10 adolescent boys were taking Rx medications for the disorder – usually prescription stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin or Concerta.
These prescribed medications help ameliorate common symptoms associated with ADHD, like severe inattention and hyperactivity, sleep deprivation, appetite suppression and, more rarely, hallucinations.
Some experts noted the new research report provides clear evidence that ADHD is being diagnosed and treated with medication in children far beyond reasonable rates, and that rapidly increasing diagnoses among adults might indicate similar problems.
In examining actual prescriptions filled, the report also strongly corroborated data from several government surveys that many mental health experts had discredited for relying on parents’ own recollections of their children’s health care.
“It’s hard to dismiss the data in this report,” said Brooke Molina, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and one of the disorder’s leading researchers. “There are limitations with every study, but it’s hard to do anything here but conclude that we have a continually forward-marching increase.”
A study released last year from The Partnership at Drugfree.org also found some concerning trends, with one in eight teens reporting they had taken Ritalin or Adderall when it was not prescribed for them and almost one-third of parents saying they believed Rx stimulants can improve a teen’s academic performance, even if the young person does not have ADHD.