Thursday, June 5, 2014

JUNE 5 v 21 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
 
For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.

Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all .

It is written in the Bible absent from the body present with the Lord. First comes death then the Judgement ! Thats right we will have to give account for all we have done with our lives and that will decide our fate .If your heart stopped right now and you find yourself standing before the judgement seat of God . What is the first question God will ask . I think He will say , son or daughter , I have given you the gift of life , intelligence , laughter , and love how did you use those gifts and talents too help others , and how did you make the world a better place . Take out a piece of paper right now and write down how you helped others and changed your world . If your page is blank then you got some work to do ,it will start with asking God to help you  change .We  do that through prayer and sincerely working the steps . Number eight is one of the most important because , God already knows who you burned , He is waiting for you to take responsibility for your sins and mistakes and  give forgiveness or seek forgiveness ! Forgiveness will set you free in ways you never dreamed possible ! If we show mercy here on earth ,then God will give mercy at His judgement seat.

Matthew 6 - 14 : 15 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
By Joseph Dickerson
myrecovery.com


Daily Quote

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen." - Ralph Waldo Emerson



Today's Online Meetings
AA Meeting - 8:00 pm CST: "Face to Face"
Guest Speaker - 1:00 pm CST: "The Big Book and Mike J"




Copyright 2011 Community of Recovering People LLC
Privacy Policy

Innovative Campus-Based Model Supports College Students in Recovery
/By Alexandre Laudet PhD
June 4th, 2014/

With addiction best conceptualized as chronic for many, recovery support services are increasingly adopting a continuum of care approach. Acute episodes of intensive treatment may help initiate recovery but relapse too often follows lest ongoing support is available. For millions worldwide, 12-step fellowships provide that support with meetings available everywhere, around the clock in large cities, free of charge, without the need to wait for the next available appointment. Others turn to faith, counseling, and to the growing menu of community-based recovery support services. With education and employment consistently mentioned as top priorities among people in recovery, college attendance is a goal for many. However, substance use remains highly prevalent on college campuses, which may lead young people in recovery to either defer or postpone college, or increase the risk of relapse if they do attend: Peer pressure, the need to fit in and the ubiquitous temptations to drink or use drugs are just so many added relapse risks at a transitional life stage already characterized with new freedoms and responsibilities and therefore, stress.

A handful of colleges and universities started addressing students’ recovery support needs some 30 years ago, providing sober dorms and recovery support meetings on campus. As substance use on college campuses became increasingly recognized as a public health issue, experts and federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Education have called for campus-based services for recovering students. This fueled a growing interest in Collegiate Recovery Programs (CRPs), a recovery-support model designed to create a campus-based “recovery friendly” space and supportive social community to enhance educational opportunities while supporting continued students’ recovery and emotional growth. The number of CRPs nationwide has grown 10 fold in the past 15 years, from 4 in 2000 to an estimated 40 today, and others in development. Yet the model has not been systematically examined and the lack of data is often cited by academic institutions as an obstacle to gaining internal support to start a CRP. To fill that evidence gap, CRPs are now the focus of a NIDA-funded exploratory study co-lead by Kitty Harris of Texas Tech University and myself.

The study is surveying both the individual sites and the student membership nationwide. In a recent article published in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, my colleagues and I discussed the need for recovery support on college campuses, the breadth of services needed, and preliminary site-level outcomes from CRP published reports. CRPs have thus far started organically, either by students in recovery and/or university staff; differences in budget and program development stage result in broadly different range of supports available. While newer programs may provide little more than fellowship and a meeting room, the longer established and best funded CRPs, such as Texas Tech’s Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery, include peer-tutoring, academic advising and scholarships based on both academics and commitment to recovery. CRP participation is typically free of charge; most programs operate with a very small core staff as the model relies on peer-driven support, typically emphasizing 12-step principles though weekly recovery celebration meetings that embrace all students in recovery regardless of their 12-step affiliation status. Descriptive findings about the breadth of CRPs from 29 sites were presented at the 2013 annual conference of the College of problems on Drug Dependence (CPDD). In the aggregate, annual relapse rates range from 0 to 25% (mean = 8%) and academic achievement (GPA and graduation) surpass the host institution’s overall outcomes. Findings from the student arm of the study will be presented at the 2014 CPDD meeting and at the 5th Annual Collegiate Recovery Conference at Ausgsburg College in June.

Alexandre Laudet, PhD is Director of the Center for the Study of Addictions and Recovery at the National Development and Research Institutes, Inc., in New York City.

Chicago Lawsuit Alleges Drug Companies Contributed to Prescription Drug Epidemic
/By Join Together Staff
June 4th, 2014/



A lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago against five drug companies alleges they contributed to the nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic through deceptive marketing of their opioid painkillers, Reuters reports.

“For years, big pharma has deceived the public about the true risks and benefits of highly potent and highly addictive painkillers in order to expand their customer base and increase their bottom line,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday against Purdue Pharma, Cephalon, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Endo Health Solutions and Actavis. The suit alleges the companies aggressively marketed opioid painkillers as rarely addictive, while misrepresenting the drugs’ benefits for treating common pains and concealing the risk of addiction, overdose and death.

Emanuel said the result has been a dramatic increase in opioid addiction and overdose in Chicago and other cities across the country. The city said it is not seeking to ban opioid painkillers, but wants to end the companies’ allegedly deceptive marketing practices so doctors and patients can make informed decisions.

According to the lawsuit, the companies violated Chicago city laws against consumer fraud, misleading advertising and submitting false claims to the city employee health insurance plan, the article notes. The city wants to recover the companies’ profits from the alleged illegal marketing, and is also seeking civil penalties and punitive damages.

Last month, two California counties sued the same five companies, accusing them of causing the country’s prescription drug abuse epidemic.

U.S. House Measure Would End Federal Interference in State Medical Marijuana Laws
/By Join Together Staff
June 4th, 2014/

A measure passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week would end federal interference in state medical marijuana laws. Under the measure, the federal government could not spend funds to stop states from implementing their own medical marijuana laws, Reuters reports.

The amendment passed as part of a bipartisan funding bill. It now moves to the Senate for consideration, the article notes.

The amendment was offered by Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California, who called its passage “a victory for states’ rights, for the doctor-patient relationship, for compassion, for fiscal responsibility.”

In a news release issued last month, Rohrabacher said, “Patients and providers currently run the risk of having a federal SWAT Team-like police force raid their home or their place of business because of consumption of a plant. The militarization of the police force in order to prevent grandma from smoking an herb that will ease her pain during her last days on this earth is the type of thing that ought to make every conservative shudder.”

While medical marijuana is legal in 21 states, the drug is still outlawed by the federal government. The Obama Administration has indicated it is willing to allow looser enforcement, the article notes. It recently provided banks with federal guidelines for conducting banking transactions with legal marijuana sellers, enabling a legalized marijuana industry to operate in states that approve it.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

JUNE 4 v 24 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.

STEP 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings



The Proverb is asking a lot . It is a scary thing when you get so entrenched with life's issues
that you cannot even tell when your telling the truth or not . Getting sober and staying in your old self is worse than a blind man walking across a highway during rush hour . Sometimes we cant change these behaviors if we refuse to accept constructive criticism . We need to take our mistakes make change , grow , and mature . Step 7 is important because there are some behaviors that are so ingrained we would never be able to get rid of on our own. The best thing we can do in any situation especially when are buttons are being pushed is keep our mouths shut and walk away . Easier said then done but our sanity and sobriety are worth it .


James 3 v 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.


By Joseph Dickerson