Although I know you’ve already seen
two blogs here about the subject, I simply can’t let the media hype
about Phillip Seymour Hoffman continue without another few words.
As you know, drugs are a big problem in
the US and Canada…well and everywhere else. Talking about drugs
and treatment and relapse generally degenerates into bloviating. I
really don’t want to do that.
Let’s start by trying agreeing that
just about everyone agrees that drugs are bad and that addiction is
really bad. Life destroying. Hurtful to all those who care about the
addict. Sometimes drugs seem cool or fun for a while. Later, not so
much.
Think about this: What if the US had
taken every single dollar spent on the failed war on drugs and put it
into education? How different might things be! Ah, well.
Think about this: Trying to stop the
supply of drugs cannot be accomplished. If anything has been proved,
that’s has been proved. Sadly, supply and demand take over, so
drugs become increasingly expensive. Not helpful because it doesn’t
make people stop using. I’ve never known an addict who decided to
get clean because he or she got priced out of the market..
Think about this: “Educating” kids
about drugs has had about zero positive effect; in some cases it
appears to have had a negative effect. Sorry. It isn’t about
substance abuse education. It might have been about education, but I
fear that train may have left the station.
So to return to the issue of Hoffman
what, then, is the net effect of the media hype about an actor who
overdosed? What then is the value of turning an addict into a
victim? How was this addict different from all the other addicts who
overdosed on the same day Hoffman overdosed?
I might have hoped that Hoffman’s
sorry death would have persuaded the media to talk about addiction
and how many addicts—someone’s
ather/mother/sister/brother/husband /father/son/daughter died that
day and every day. I would have hoped the media would have used the
opportunity to lead a profound discussion about addiction. About
heroin, prescription meds.
Addiction isn’t a new phenomenon in
the US. I mean why did the Women’s Temperance League gain the
power it did? Obviously alcohol had become such a problem in the
country, that families were being impoverished, destroyed because of
alcohol. Women had had enough. Mothers and wives had had enough.
I am neither supporting legalizing all
drugs or reverting to a failed experiment such as Prohibition.
Addition is a problem that can be solved, just not in the haphazard
way we’ve tried.
So what about the disease model? The
disease model asserts that alcoholism and addiction are diseases. I
have never seen convincing evidence of this assertion, but I know
that it helps some addicts and alcoholics get into and maintain
Recovery. Okay. If it works, that’s cool. If the disease model
provides excuses for NOT getting into Recovery, then it isn’t
helpful.
Do you know why drug rehab is 28-days?
Because during the Vietnam War, as more and more soldiers began
abusing drugs, the military had some regulations about being able to
be in rehab for 28 days and it not coming onto your record. Hence
the model. Hardly anyone gets into Recovery in 28 (or fewer) days.
Recovery is hard. Okay. So are a lot
of things. Well, most things in life. There are no shortcuts and no
easy ways. Whatever you may have read about easier ways, Recovery is
hard. Staying in Recovery requires a decision every day…some days
that decisions needs to be made many, many times. Relapse is easy.
It isn’t a part of Recovery; it is the antithesis of Recovery.
For those of you who are not alcoholics
or addicts: Please realize that you will never, never, never think
like an alcoholic or addict. That’s one of the reasons the
“educating” kids piece doesn’t work. It was thought up and
propagated by people who aren’t alcoholics or addicts. It makes
rational sense…to someone who isn’t an alcoholic or an addict.
Hardly anyone, when thinking about
using, says to himself, “H’mmm. I remember what I learned in
DARE. I think I’ll make a different decision.”
It really is time to get real about
drugs, addiction, treatment. Yes, it’s a huge source of revenue to
a lot of people and institutions. Including prisons.
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