Beyond Addiction from Creators Syndicate

Opportunity Knocks for 07/12/2008

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

John McCain and Barack Obama were on the never-ending campaign trail again last week, and for once, one of the candidates actually talked about the never-ending war on drugs.

The problem is that Sen. McCain was doing his talking in Colombia, where the fight to control the production and distribution of cocaine to America never has succeeded, despite billions upon billions of U.S. taxpaye ...

Updated: Sat Jul 12, 2008

No Laughing Matter for 07/19/2008

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

This might be funny except …

Dear Mr. Moyers: An avid golfer, my husband has more time on his hands now than he knows what to do with since he retired. He fills the day playing 18 holes — every day! But that's not the biggest problem. No, it's the 19th hole: the clubhouse bar. He's drunk by the time he gets home for dinner. Lately though, the 19th hole comes before the firs ...

Updated: Sat Jul 19, 2008

Turning the Tables for 07/26/2008

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Sometimes the best advice comes when readers seek insight not in questions about themselves or their problems, but in querying me about my own experiences. This hit home in a recent letter from a 14-year-old boy.

Dear Mr. Moyers: I want to know what it was like to fall in the peer pressure of drugs and why you did. I know people always say to stay away from drugs, and I kno ...

Updated: Sat Jul 26, 2008

Kevin's Story for 08/02/2008

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

At first glance, it was his photograph that caught my eye. He appeared supremely confident, and his thick mane of hair was windswept. I easily could imagine that his spirit soared on the same currents as his short life.

But the picture didn't match the page because it was in the obituary section of my local newspaper. He was too young to be there. And then I read the reason he was there: ...

Updated: Sat Aug 02, 2008

Euphoric Recall for 08/09/2008

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Many addicts and alcoholics want help expecting that they never will get high again.

I understand their sentiments. There was a time in my life, too, when the pain and suffering of drinking and drugging were more than I could bear. Desperate, I sought relief and a way out of my intractable spiral in the whirlwind of addiction. Treatment gave me that chance.

But as I and many other ...

Updated: Sat Aug 09, 2008

Simple Questions, Tough Answers for 08/16/2008

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

People struggle to explain to me their problems related to alcohol or other drugs. The result: Oftentimes, they expound in minute detail about their circumstances before finally punctuating their e-mails or letters with the questions they want answered.

But sometimes, it's the other way around, and they drive right to the point, leaving me to struggle with how to keep it simple with succ ...

Updated: Sat Aug 16, 2008

Skin-Deep and Deeper for 08/23/2008

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

There is more to addiction than meets the eye.

And to understand how to overcome it often means looking beyond what can be seen readily.

No wonder stigma cloaks the truth about addiction and confusion muddles how to appreciate successful recovery.

Dear Mr. Moyers: Why do you think it is that many addicts seem to have charming personalities that make them so engaging ...

Updated: Sat Aug 23, 2008

Back to School for 08/30/2008

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The problems young people encounter with alcohol and other drugs don't take a summer vacation. But it seems those problems rise to the forefront when it's time for young people to go back to school.

Dear Mr. Moyers: Last Friday night, our 16-year-old daughter had a party. It was supposed to be just for some high-school classmates to mark the end of summer and the start of their s ...

Updated: Sat Aug 30, 2008

Drinking Debate for 09/06/2008

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In the interest of full disclosure, first I must admit the following:

—I am a former binge drinker.

—It was in college that I began to drink alcoholically.

—Today I am in long-term recovery from my alcoholism.

—I work for a facility that treats people addicted to alcohol, some of whom are as young as 16.

—I know and respect the fo ...

Updated: Sat Sep 06, 2008

Alcohol 101 for 09/13/2008

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Oops. I blew it.

In last week's column, I offered my own experiences as a binge-drinking college student decades ago as an argument against lowering the legal drinking age to 18 from 21. It turns out I did not go far enough in making my case, at least not with some interested readers.

Dear Mr. Moyers: We are a group of college students concerned with the use of alcohol at ...

Updated: Sat Sep 13, 2008

Star of Hope for 09/20/2008

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Another star has fallen from the heavens of Hollywood, and it hasn't taken long for the inevitable question to follow: Why doesn't Mackenzie Phillips get it?

I am not in a position to defend Phillips, who reportedly has entered a treatment program after being arrested last month for possession of illegal drugs at Los Angeles International Airport.

But unlike Lindsay Lohan, whose t ...

Updated: Sat Sep 20, 2008

Faces of Recovery for 09/27/2008

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

On my way to the airport the other day, the hotel van driver asked me that stock question that is inevitable whenever strangers share a ride: "What do you do for a living?"

I told him I work for an organization that helps addicts and alcoholics, loath to go into much detail because the ride was too short to explain treatment, much less the dynamics of addiction.

But the ...

Updated: Sat Sep 27, 2008

Politics of Addiction for 10/04/2008

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The final push is on in the race between John McCain and Barack Obama for the White House. In a recent article, Neal Peirce, of the Washington Post Writers Group, wrote: "It's been 20 years since drugs and prisons have even been mentioned in the televised presidential debates. Maybe not just Obama, but McCain too could surprise us with some fresh ideas and promise of leadership as presiden ...

Updated: Sat Oct 04, 2008

A Bailout of Hope for 10/11/2008

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

It was hardly a senatorial moment. Standing in the kitchen of my home in Minnesota, Sen. Paul Wellstone grabbed a slice of pizza off my young son's plate. But before he could take a bite, my son turned around and caught him.

"Hey, you, that's mine!" he yelled. And then he burst into tears.

Politicians are supposed to kiss smiling babies, not make them cry. What could the ...

Updated: Sat Oct 11, 2008

Parity Points for 10/18/2008

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

What's next?

That's the question a lot of readers want answered in the aftermath of the historic vote by Congress to expand insurance coverage for treatment of addiction and mental illness.

That's ironic because until now, few people gave any thought as to how, much less whether, their health plans covered depression, bulimia or alcoholism. All too often, it was only when they wer ...

Updated: Sat Oct 18, 2008

A Work of Faith for 10/25/2008

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The church sanctuary was jammed with worshippers whose faith reached beyond the roof but whose spirit was born of the hard work that followed the despair of hitting bottom.

They came to Riverbend Church in Austin, Texas, on a Sunday morning in October to celebrate the promise and possibility of recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. I was there, too, to share my tale of addi ...

Updated: Sat Oct 25, 2008

Kelsey's Questions for 11/01/2008

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Politicians and pundits and the public at large have wrangled with issues about alcoholism and drug dependence since the days of the American Revolution. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who has been called the father of American psychiatry, made the speaking circuit in the early 1800s lecturing about "the effects of ardent spirits upon the human body and mind ...

Updated: Sat Nov 01, 2008

Answers for Kelsey for 11/08/2008

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

As promised in last week's column, here are my answers to some of the questions Kelsey S. of North Carolina asked me as part of a research project about addiction to alcohol and other drugs she's doing for her high-school English class:

Question: Why do you think that drug treatment works?

Answer: Because that's what the research shows. At Hazelden, where I work, our studi ...

Updated: Sat Nov 08, 2008

A Question Unanswered for 11/15/2008

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

And now the rest of my answers to questions posed a few weeks ago by Kelsey S., a 16-year-old student at Mallard Creek High School in Charlotte, N.C.:

Question: If the government gave more funding for drug treatment, do you think there would be a positive change?

Answer: There is no doubt that we need to reconfigure the war on drugs to expand resources for proven preventio ...

Updated: Sat Nov 15, 2008

A Bigger Tent for 11/22/2008

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

They pitched a big tent on the roof of an office building overlooking the Capitol rotunda the other day for a party to celebrate a new law that treats mental illness and addiction like any other chronic disease. But the tent still wasn't big enough for the man standing almost alone amid the crowd.

"I don't dare tell anyone I am a recovering alcoholic," he whispered to me as if ...

Updated: Sat Nov 22, 2008