Hello good people, 

I wanted to check in to see if any of you would be interested in a project called I Am Not Anonymous. The goal is to reduce stigma and inspire hope by putting a face and voice on recovery. There is more information in the below email from the folks leading this project. 

The quick and dirty version is that we are looking for folks to submit their recovery story (using the attached talking points to guide the narrative) and then get your picture taken on Saturday, August 9th. This is an awesome project that I had the honor of participating in and I think you'd enjoy it as well!! Check out the below email along with their website,www.iamnotanonymous.org , and let me know if you are interested!! Also, if you know of anybody else who may be interested, please connect them to me.

Thanks for your interest in participating in the I Am Not Anonymous project! This is a black and white portrait project that Kate Meyer (co-creator) is photographing. The focus, hope and vision of this project is to bring a face and a voice to recovery, in order to aid in breaking the stigma of addiction.

Most importantly, everyone must understand that this project is IN NO WAY affiliated with any 12-step program. We take the tradition of anonymity very seriously here and respect the fellowships that so many of us have recovered, and continue to recover in. However, this project is all about breaking PERSONAL anonymity. And the deal is that it is all about the principle of attraction ironically. However, again, it has nothing to do with AA or any other 12-step fellowship. It just has to do with RECOVERY.

Currently the stigma of alcoholism / addiction is tremendous and terrible, and for good reason. The only vision of our kind is negative. The only thing that the public sees is the untreated alcoholic/addict. So what advocacy work, the recovery movement, and specifically this project is about, is about bringing a face and a voice to the treated addict/alcoholic. Showing the public what we look like. Breaking the stigma of addiction and alcoholism by showing how beautiful, funny, intelligent, helpful and productive we are when we are treated.

Unfortunately what happens is so many of us get sober and just matriculate into society wearing this cloak of 'anonymity,' which is not a bad thing. And everyone is entitled to personal anonymity if that is what they so choose. However, oftentimes there is a misconception about in order to be a "good member" of my 12-step fellowship, and follow the traditions; I need to be quiet about my sobriety. This is false. What the traditions do is ask for us to not identify specially as a member of said fellowship; and they also ask us not to expose anyone else's membership. That is all.

So I can talk about my personal recovery all day!! And so can you! We just exclude directly tying ourselves to a particular fellowship. Recovery and AA/NA/CA ... although for many of us are simply synonymous ... truly are two very separate things!

My personal opinion is that the stigma of alcoholism and addiction cannot and will not be broken until the recovering community of alcoholics and addicts becomes visible. That onus falls on our shoulders.

Now that we have the fine prints out of the way... On to the fun stuff!

The photo shoot with be held:

DATE: Saturday, August 9th

TIME: 10:00am - 5:00pm (Please let me know what time you can arrive!)

LOCATION: 123 S Broad St. 22nd Floor ; Philadelphia, PA 19109

CONTACT: Brooke Feldman; BFeldman@pmhcc.org; 215.681.5323

Along with your photo, is going to be your accompanying story, in your own words! And you need to write this before the photo shoot and email it back to me. If I do not receive your written submission before the day of the shoot, we cannot shoot you. We are asking that all written submissions be about 1000 words- however; please feel free to write more if you feel so inclined.

To give you some guidelines for your writing...

It is up to you what parts of your story you would like to share. Please keep in mind the goals of the project while you are writing your story. For those of you are members of 12-step fellowships, this is more than a normal "Experience, Strength and Hope" share. The goal is to combat the negative stigma surrounding addiction and spread a positive message about recovery. This should be more recovery heavy, then addiction heavy. Really try and think about how the stigma affected your journey. How you felt while you were still active... How you feel now that you are in recovery... Were you judged... Are you still judged even now that you are in recovery due to people’s ignorance or lack of understanding? Tom and Kate have compiled a list of questions (which I have attached) that may spark your interest and help you think of specific instances that you can write about. Also I am here to help you form your story. Please don't hesitate to call, text, email me, and we can go over it! Most importantly, write from the heart. There is nothing more powerful than an authentic share to help shape and change someone's mind.

Along with your writing, we will also need for you to choose the message that will be placed on your image. Just a couple words, but a couple of words that scream you, your story, and your message. A couple of examples that other subjects have used already are: "You Are Not Alone," "God Shaped Hole," "Seeing Through New Eyes," and "I Am No Less Than You."

If you have ANY questions, comments, concerns... Please feel free to contact me. I am so humbled and excited to be a part of this project. Kate and Tom thank you from the bottom of their hearts for your involvement.

THROUGH OUR SILENCE, WE LET OTHERS DEFINE US.

http://www.iamnotanonymous.org

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc.                                                   and           Pennsylvania Recovery Organization --      Achieving Community Together (PRO-ACT)
Recovery in Our Communities July 29, 2014      Like us on Facebook                                   www.councilsepa.org                       Follow us on Twitter   Information and Recovery Support Line 24/7: 800-221-6333 "Never believe that a few caring people can't      change the world.     For, indeed, that's all who ever have."   Margaret Mead "TURNING A CORNER" IN RECOVERY Believing In The Road To A Better Life   Courtney Barnes works for The Council as a TASC Manager.  She helps clients who are involved with the criminal justice system and have a substance use disorder.   As Courtney explains, "I have recently been working with a young adult...at a critical learning point in his/her recovery process...The idea of staying sober is difficult...I help people understand that there is a realistic path to a better, more meaningful life, and then I help them walk the path they choose...The process of growing in understanding is all part of their journey..." In life, obstacles are to be expected.  Read Courtney's Story on how she helps individuals overcome challenges and believe in a better life.   PARENTS ARE "TOP INFLUENCERS" Talk To Your Kids & Make A Huge Difference Not surprisingly, parents are the most powerful influence in their child's life.  According to The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, "Parents have more influence over their child than friends, music, TV, the internet and celebrities."  But when it comes to talking to their kids about drugs and alcohol, many parents struggle because they fear the dreaded question, "Did you ever do drugs?"     Stop avoiding the subject.  Read "How to Talk To Your Kids About Drugs If You've Done Drugs."    The fact that you've had experience may be an advantage.  Be sure to visit The Council's website for resources on how to talk to your kids, including our  "Talk Kit For Parents."     REDUCE ADDICTION IN YOUR COMMUNITY A Personal Call To Action  Read Dr. Jana Burson's  practical summary of prevention research to learn how you can reduce addiction in your community.  This powerful article is a call to action for every spouse, parent, doctor, neighbor and friend.   Dr. Burson explains ways you can help to prevent the harm caused by addiction or substance abuse, intervene early and support your loved ones in recovery.   Decide today to get involved and stay involved.   Some Upcoming Events Beating the Blues8-session, web-based program on how to get through the rough periods of anxiety, stress and depression.  At PRCC.  Call 215-223-7700 to register.  Journaling for RecoveryTuesdays - 1:30pm:  Reflective writing as a process of self-discovery, change, and growth.   At SBRCC in Bristol.  Call 215-788-3738 x 100 to register. Morning Devotions Mondays 10-11am:  Jump Start Your Morning! Faith-based guided devotions consisting of quiet time, prayer and readings from the Life Recovery Bible.  At CBRCC in Doylestown.  Call 215-345-6644 for details. Aug. 20th:  September 12, 2014: 7:05 pm. Recovery Night at the Baseball Game, Phillies vs. Marlins, Citizens Bank Park. Click here for tickets.  September 20, 2014: PRO-ACT Recovery Walks! 2014, Great Plaza, Penn's Landing, Philadelphia. Click here to register and get more information. Employment Opportunities: Please click here

Fingernail Drug Test Gives Vital Information to DWI Program

/BY CELIA VIMONT

July 30th, 2014/

A pilot program that uses fingernail drug and alcohol testing is helping to spot drivers who have been convicted of driving while intoxicated who are continuing to drink or use drugs. Fingernail testing captures a person’s history of drug and alcohol use for the past three to six months.

The program, in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, is testing drivers who have been convicted of at least three DWI offenses, says Guida Brown of the Hope Council on Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse, which assesses drivers convicted of impaired driving in the county. Drivers must successfully complete the yearlong program in order to maintain their driving privileges.

“We do a lot of assessment, but until now there’s been no teeth behind it – no ability to help people see they really have a problem – and help guide them in a way to stay abstinent,” says Brown. “With this test, when we say you can’t use drugs or alcohol for the one-year duration of the driver safety program, we can verify the results.”

A Breathalyzer test can be negative in as soon as 12 hours after a person drinks, according to Douglas E. Lewis of the United States Drug Testing Laboratories (USDTL), which makes the fingernail test. In contrast, a blood alcohol test called a PEth test can detect alcohol in a person’s system for about two to three weeks and a fingernail test can detect alcohol in a person’s system for about 90 days.

Lewis and Brown presented the findings of the pilot program at the recent annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.

Most counties don’t do any drug or alcohol testing as part of their driver safety programs, Brown notes. “The big problem isn’t just drunk driving anymore – other drugs are becoming more of a hazard on the road, including marijuana and prescription drugs,” she says. The pilot program found 59 percent of those tested were positive for alcohol, suggesting they continued to binge after their last DWI arrest. Of those tested for drugs, 35 percent were positive. Cocaine, marijuana and opiates were the most commonly found drugs.

Lewis says the test typically costs $100. In Kenosha, clients of the DWI program pay for the testing themselves, which typically takes place about four times over the course of the year. While some counties see the cost of the test as a barrier to its use, Brown notes it is done much less frequently than a urine test, which must be conducted every few days to give accurate results. She has advocated for more state money to increase funding for drug and alcohol testing, and for extending the length of the program. “We’d like a longer monitoring program so we could help more people finish,” she says.

Drug testing using hair is more widespread than fingernail testing. Fingernails, like hair, are made of a protein called keratin. Drug and alcohol biomarkers are trapped in the keratin fibers of the fingernail. Biomarkers may be washed out of hair by common cosmetic treatments such as bleaches, dyes, permanents and straighteners. This reduces the presence of detectable substances. This isn’t a problem with nails, Lewis says. Unlike hair, which stops capturing drug and alcohol biomarkers once hair grows out of the body, nails continue to capture these substances as the nail grow in length and thickness.

Nails provide up to six months of drug use history and up to three months of alcohol history, according to Lewis. Biomarkers are detectable in nails as early as one week after drug or alcohol use. A typical sample is 2 to 3 millimeters, about the thickness of a quarter.

Lewis stresses the test won’t come back positive for the person who has a drink or two a day. “You need at least six standard binges—consuming five standard drinks in a two-hour period for a man, or four for a woman—in a three-month window for the test to come back positive,” he says. “This test finds someone who drinks often enough to cause concern.”

The test also detects amphetamines, opiates, cocaine, marijuana and PCP. While fingernail testing has been available for the past 20 years, until recently it has largely been used for research, according to Lewis. Improved technology has allowed scientists to refine the test so it can detect drug and alcohol use even when a person is not using these substances daily.

In addition to DWI programs, some professional health programs are using fingernail drug testing. “These programs, such as those for doctors, need clients to maintain a low level or as close to an abstinent level as possible for long periods of time,” observes Lewis. “This test allows evaluators to have an objective set of tools.”

History of Drinking Problems Linked With Memory Deficits in Later Life

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

July 30th, 2014/

A new study of thousands of Americans finds people with a history of drinking problems have more than twice the risk of memory problems later in life, compared with those who have never been heavy drinkers.

The researchers asked participants four questions: Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking? Have people ever annoyed you by criticizing your drinking? Have you ever felt guilty about drinking? And have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning? These questions come from a widely used screening questionnaire for alcoholism, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Participants were born between 1931 and 1941. They answered the questions about alcohol use when they were first interviewed, when they were in their 50s and 60s. They were considered to have a drinking problem if they answered yes to at least two of the four questions. They had follow-up memory tests every other year from 1996 to 2010, the article notes.

The 16 percent of participants who said they had a drinking problem at some point in their lives were much more likely to have memory problems later in life. The study appears in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

“We already know there is an association between dementia risk and levels of current alcohol consumption – that understanding is based on asking older people how much they drink and then observing whether they develop problems,” lead researcher Dr. Iain Lang of the University of Exeter Medical School said in a news release. “But this is only one part of the puzzle and we know little about the consequences of alcohol consumption earlier in life. What we did here is investigate the relatively unknown association between having a drinking problem at any point in life and experiencing problems with memory later in life

FedEx, Indicted on Drug Trafficking Charges, Pleads Not Guilty

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

July 30th, 2014/

FedEx, which was indicted earlier this month on drug trafficking charges, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. The company is accused of conspiring to deliver prescription drugs for illegal online pharmacies.

Bloomberg reports the company, the world’s largest cargo airline, was indicted on 15 counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and misbranded drugs and drug trafficking.

According to the indictment, the shipping company knew for a decade that illegal online pharmacies used their services. “While some Internet pharmacies were managed by well-known pharmacy chains that required valid prescriptions and visits to the patient’s personal physician, others failed to require a prescription before filling orders for controlled substances and prescription drugs,” a U.S. Sentencing Commission news releasestates. “These Internet pharmacies filled orders based solely on the completion of an online questionnaire, without a physical examination, diagnosis, or face-to-face meeting with a physician. Such practices violated federal and state laws governing the distribution of prescription drugs and controlled substances.”

According to prosecutors, government officials warned FedEx at least six times since 2004 that illegal Internet pharmacies used the company to deliver drugs.

At a hearing in federal court in San Francisco on Tuesday, Cris Arguedas, a lawyer for FedEx said, “We are a transportation company, not a pharmacy, not a website, not a doctor.” Prosecutors said that by the end of August the government intends to present an updated indictment to a federal grand jury that is investigating the company.

The company said it repeatedly asked the government to provide a list of online pharmacies engaging in illegal activity. “Whenever DEA provides us a list of pharmacies engaging in illegal activity, we will turn off shipping for those companies immediately. So far the government has declined to provide such a list,” FedEx said in a statement when the indictment was announced.

Bill Aimed at Curbing Prescription Drug Abuse Passes in House With Bipartisan Support

/BY JOIN TOGETHER STAFF

July 30th, 2014/

A measure designed to reduce prescription drug abuse passed in the House on Tuesday with bipartisan support, according to The Hill.

The bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act, changing the definition of “imminent danger to the public health or safety” so that it would apply to drugs that pose present or foreseeable health risks, the article notes.

Under the measure, called the Ensuring Patient Access to Effective Drug Enforcement Act, prescription drug manufacturers registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could submit a “corrective action plan” before a drug is suspended.

“Any legitimate business involved in distributing or dispensing prescriptions welcomes appropriate oversight and regulation,” said bill co-sponsor Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Republican. The bill was also sponsored by Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee; Peter Welch, a Democrat from Vermont, and Judy Chu, a Democrat from California.

“Prescription drug abuse is claiming lives all across this country,” Welch said in a news release. “Painkillers are falling into the wrong hands while delivery of these same drugs is being stalled to the patients that need them, including seniors and those battling cancer. To fix this problem, drug suppliers and federal officials need to be able to work hand-in-hand to improve our drug delivery system and that’s exactly what this legislation does.”

“Simply acknowledging the epidemic of prescription drug abuse isn’t enough,” Blackburn said in a news release. “Congress has a responsibility to make sure the law is crystal clear for both DEA and legitimate businesses who want to understand what the rules are so they can do the right thing. That is why I am so pleased the House has acted today on our legislation that seeks to ensure the prescription drug supply chain is safe and secure for the patients that truly rely upon it to alleviate pain and treat illnesses.”