A Subdued "Happy Birthday" To Methadone

What would happen if we won the war on drugs?

What if we could deal successfully with the problems of addiction with treatment and see the tangible evidence of success in lower crime rates?

HOME-BREWED BOOZE AND DOCTORING

John had lived in the back of a downtown Toronto community center for as long as anyone could remember. "He was there for the past 14 years as far as we've been able to tell," says Art Manuel, the director of the harm reduction program at Toronto’s Seaton House homeless shelter. "He

PENALIZING PEOPLE WHO ARE RECOVERING FROM ADDICTION

Have you ever answered a questionnaire for a life insurance policy?

Have you ever been less than truthful in answering any of the questions?

A FORMER CNN STAR SPEAKS OUT

If you look at someone who has no self-respect, I’d bet that they will not look back at you - directly. From experience, I’ve detected that defeated people stare at the floor and become shoe inspectors.

"I was one of those people inspecting shoes," said Susan Rook, the former host of CNN’s "Talkback Live," who now works as an advocate for recovering people in North Carolina.

…or why I’d be better off working at McDonalds than being an addicted media star

Sometimes the best way to attack an addiction is where an addict hurts the most: in the pocketbook.

Addiction counselling trainer, Arthur Trundy, uses the example of a high powered advertising executive to make the point about the high cost of addiction.
"When she came to me" he says, "she was 6 months clean from cocaine and thinking of returning to her $110,000 a year job at the advertising agency. But my advice was to consider another career."

The woman was naturally hesitant about considering any alternatives in light of her former success in advertising. "But it was not a success," according to Trundy.

He used one of the most recognized business tools, The Cost/Benefit Analysis, to make his point that she would be better off with any other job than her old one.

"Any other job?" She asked.

So he suggested she pick the worst job she could think of as an example. To which she sneered: "Flipping burgers at McDonalds for minimum wage."

A PILL FOR EVERYTHING

Bobby was nervously twitching in his chair when I first met him in the detox. "It’s bad to be a crack addict getting off crack," he said with a scowl. But he was at a loss for words to describe the tears that had overpowered him - so much so that he’d gone to the desk of the detox and begged for something to relieve him of his horrible anxiety.

Imagine being addicted to a drug like heroin and trying to find an effective remedy that works fast and keeps you from going back again.

How about Spit- therapy? That’s one where other addicts in treatment spit on you as a punishment for wrong-thinking. Never heard of it?

Well, how about Desert Therapy? As one organization explains it: "providers who are committed to the utilization of outdoor modalities to assist young people and their families to make positive change."

SO-CALLED NON-ADDICTIVE ANTIDEPRESSANTS, INCLUDING PAXIL

Did you ever take a psychiatric medication? If yes, then, like me, you were probably perplexed by the feeling of indifference and apathy that comes with taking an effective antidepressant drug.

In 1968, when I was 14, I was far from a normal teenager. I suffered from severe depression and was given the miracle antidepressant drug of the day - Valium. The doctors told me and my parents there was nothing to fear because it was non-addictive and had no severe side effects. I was told it was so safe to use that I could take as much as I wanted without fear of overdose. And if the doctor told you something, it had to be true, didn’t it?

ADDICTION, FEAR AND PRAYER

I always had a fear of being caught on my knees praying. I’ll let you in on a not so shameful secret too: I do it. And I’m now admitting it publicly. So, what’s this fear about?

Fear is the essence of addiction; that’s why I used drugs. In the beginning, it was a way to overcome the fear and keep functioning

I’D RATHER TRUST MY EXPERIENCES AND NOT THE RESEARCH

One of my favorite lines comes from an aging pothead who growls, "I’ve been smoking pot everyday for 25 years and it hasn’t hurt me a bit! (cough) I can quit anytime I want to."

I faced that one down for the last time in 1994 after years of struggle with "It’s not addictive…I can quit anytime I want to. I just don’t want to…I’m more creative when I’m stoned." (Yeah right…more about that later)…It makes lovemaking so much better (Yes, I can be more indifferent, apathetic and self-absorbed when I’m stoned)."

WHAT NEXT?

Should the police be allowed to wire a church to gather evidence in a criminal case? A good Christian thinks of the confessional as being sacrosanct, a place where you can openly discuss your crimes and receive absolution - privileged information that can’t be used in court. But, think about this: we could save so much money on investigations by putting microphones in and taping the secrets of these losers. After all, they are criminals and we don't need to care what happens to them. So what if a few innocent people get caught and have to suffer?

THE NEW COCAINE VACCINE IS FOOL’S GOLD

April 8, 2002 - Is there a magic bullet to wipe out cocaine addiction? The new cocaine vaccine trial might have you think so.

My own experience says we should not hold our breath. The vaccine manufacturers want to raise hopes and remember that their job is to sell more vaccines. Working in alcoholism and drug recovery gives me a front-line view. It’s unlikely we will see an end to the scourge of cocaine addiction anymore than we will see the end of alcoholism or any other form of addiction and abuse.

The vaccine in question is called TA-CD and is currently undergoing testing in the United States. It works by causing the body to make antibodies which attack the cocaine molecules in the blood. Normally, cocaine molecules are small enough to get through the blood-brain barrier which protects the brain from foreign substances. Antibodies attach themselves to the cocaine molecules and make them too big to get through and thereby cannot trigger dopamine production in the brain, which is associated with the high people get.

FEW STORIES ABOUT "RECOVERY" FROM CONGRESS

April 1, 2002 - Last fall I was contacted by a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation asking for help with a story he was working on about alcoholism, addiction and politicians. He asked whether I could help him find elected politicians who would be willing to talk about the problems of dealing with their own alcoholism and addictions.

Talk about a loaded question. The subject is usually one that’s covered by the tabloids more than the mainstream press. The few public admissions made by politicians are usually couched in bafflegab. Remember " I didn’t inhale" President Clinton. And President Bush’s "Faith cured my drinking problem?" In fact Bush told the Washington Post: "I don't think I was clinically an alcoholic." He even took great pride in saying that he "never went to Alcoholics Anonymous or any other program of treatment." Stirring stuff for a nation whose proclaimed number one social problem is addiction to drugs!

A simple Google search of the words "alcoholism + politician" turned up about 4,000 entries, but almost nothing about politicians who admit to alcoholism or addiction. An article at Salon.com by Cary Tennis titled, "My Name is George and I’m An Alcoholic" is the top entry (from which I took the above quotes), but is not an article about what George has said: rather it’s about what he hasn't said, namely, "My Name is George and I'm An Alcoholic."

Sadly, the first thirty entries in the Google search turn up only two stories about alcoholic politicians: The Salon.com story about Bush, and another about Alberta Premier Ralph Klein who publicly renounced drinking after an embarrassing midnight incident at a homeless shelter in Edmonton last Christmas.

Seems Klein got it into his head to visit the shelter on his way home after a party, as Ann McIlroy reported for The Guardian, "The man who stumbled into the homeless shelter late at night was well dressed, and had obviously indulged in too much Christmas cheer. Slurring his words, he got into an argument with the residents, demanding to know why they were unemployed."

The CBC reporter tried to get Klein to comment for his story but was rebuffed - Klein doesn't consider himself to be an alcoholic. The association is prickly for any public figure caught abusing alcohol or drugs. It seems we've come a long way in hearing from public figures openly discussing their recovery — except politicians.

Dr. Abraham Twerski, director of the Gateway Treatment Center in Pittsburgh, is well acquainted with this issue. He says there is fear amongst "high achievers" that acknowledgement and treatment might jeopardize their status. "There are recovery meetings held on Capitol Hill in Washington, in state capitols, city halls and municipal buildings all across the country. You just don’t know about them."

When politicians do open up on their alcoholism, they usually suffer attacks from opponents. Take the case of former Texas Governor Ann Richards. Her opponents weren’t kind to her even when she was already in recovery. But she still won re-election.

HIDDEN CASES, INCLUDING MINE

Being a victim of sexual abuse makes for good conversation these days, but I can't say I enjoy the topic. Sexual abuse is a very familiar topic for those of us involved in alcohol and drug recovery. I've heard estimates that 60 percent to 80 per cent of us have been sexually abused. When I first began discussing it publicly in 1991 I was asked by a secretary if such talk was "some new fad for young men." I think the look she got from me told her what she needed to know.

It’s no fad. I would prefer to have my nails pulled out with a pair of pliers - slowly and with agony if it would mean never having to discuss my sexual abuse again. It’s a subject that’s caused me no end of pain, confusion, alcoholism and addiction since I was six-years-old.

Other victims are suing the church, the parochial schools, the government and others for their suffering. I have no one to sue and no desire to do it even if I could.

I have to laugh out loud at much of the ludicrous posturing by columnists this past week who should know better than to comment on a subject they know next to nothing about. One columnist compared the Catholic Church to the Boy Scouts and claimed the group’s policy of expelling Gay people has prevented any such scandal from occurring in its ranks.

Obviously, she wasn't a member of my troop. Sexual experimentation might not have been sanctioned by the Boy Scouts, but it happened. I know because I was there.

Problem was that adults didn’t cause the abuse in my case. Other kids did - kids who had likely been abused by other kids, who had been abused by an adult somewhere along the way.

I still remember in the midst of my period of addiction telling my mother about what had happened when I was six, a hurtful thing to do in retrospect. How she cried over it! I was 30 when I told her and like most sexual abuse victims, I thought I knew how to handle it: when in fact I couldn't have handled it worse! The guy who abused me said he’d kill me and hurt my family if I told anyone what happened. Six year olds scare easily and I held it in for 24 years. So here was mom telling me she’d always watched out for older men who might have an eye on me but she never thought of the twelve-year-old down the road from our home. Would you? Likely not.

Nor would you likely know that the overwhelming majority of sexual abuse is caused by persons well known to the child. The myth of the stranger offering candy to a kid in the park is just that: largely a myth.

A surprising fact about survivors of sexual abuse is that a lot of us feel we are better people for what we went through. Not that we would wish it on anyone else, but somehow we became better people as a result.

How can that be? Someone who’s never been there has difficulty understanding how sexual abuse affects the victim. Textbooks have been written on the psychological damage that goes above and beyond the physical assault. To have survived when so many others linger in depression or die from suicide means you have developed an incredible resiliency.

Confusion about sexual orientation is a common side-effect which lingers into adolescence and adulthood for the victim. A feeling of unworthiness and ugliness is also common, although undeserved. It took years for me to find out the abusers look for the pretty ones - a fact that came from conversations with sexual offenders in a drug rehab. Most offenders also consider themselves to be "straight" or heterosexual, despite their involvement with young boys. Most also feel protected by the stigma a boy feels about revealing abuse by another man. At least they felt comfortable about it until recently.

My abuse took place in 1960, a time when sexual assaults on young boys were virtually unheard of. The sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies first made it easier for women to talk about sexual assault and abuse. Yet when telephone hotlines for abuse victims first began, workers were surprised when they received calls from abused men. At that time, outside of the Gay community there were no resources for counseling male abuse victims. Male sexual abuse was never discussed, except as it concerned the abuse of females by males.

Not so long ago I was working as a counselor dealing with the case of a boy who was conned into making a porn video when he was drunk and stoned. When I called the police, the detective I spoke to almost yawned aloud. I was told: "One day he'll look at it as something he did for sport."

This was blatant "kiddie porn," involving this boy and a couple of men. When I told the detective that part of it, his response was "Oh…" That kind of indifference sends a message to an abused boy that his problems are insignificant and only serves to reinforce the low self-esteem he already feels from having been sexually violated.

My local newspaper today reported a similar abuse incident. Apparently, the police took it very seriously.

"Anytime anyone feels someone has touched them in an unwanted sexual manner, we take it seriously," according to the officer involved. "There is no double standard under the law."

Really? Then perhaps all this painful talk is actually paying off.

WHAT CASINOS DON’T TELL YOU

With its gold ceilings and marble floors, the casino makes a garish statement. But there are features in its interior design that are not as visible. And these are the subtleties that will help you surrender whatever money you have in your pocket.

For one thing, the typical modern casinos do not have clocks. No need to distract you with a time-piece. The absence of windows or natural light also cuts down on outside distractions. The psychological goal of casino design is to keep you focused instead on gambling distractions. Hence the overly loud coin trays on slot machines and associated noisemakers built into casino equipment.

Sticking It To Compulsive Gamblers

February 23, 2002 - In 1999, when off-duty police Sgt. Solomon Bell tried one last hand of high-stakes blackjack, he lost. What happened next at the brand new Motor City Casino in Detroit was horrifying - he pulled out his service revolver and blew his brains out.

The most common cause of death for compulsive gamblers is suicide. They see it as the easy way out of their problems.

It was, however, unusual that Officer Bell committed suicide in the casino. An unidentified spokesperson for a Las Vegas casino later commented that "usually people jump off a high level of the parking structure." Can't you just feel his warmth and concern about gambling-related suicide?

Casino gambling has grown from its beachhead in Nevada to become the largest growth industry in the U.S. in less than 25 years.

The 1999 report of the nine-member National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) notes that in 1977, every state except Nevada prohibited commercial gambling casinos. Only 13 states had lotteries. Native American casinos didn't even exist. All told, Americans wagered about $17 billion on legal commercial gambling.

The big changes came in the late 1970s and 1980s. Atlantic City legalized casinos and state lotteries became commonplace. In the early 1990s, legal gambling casinos spread across the country. So did video poker machines at racetracks and bars.

So you shouldn't be surprised to know that Americans wagered about $60 billion on legal gambling last year. That's right, $60 billion.

What goes unsaid in these numbers is that casinos can't exist without compulsive gamblers. Before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Professor Earl Grinols of the University of Illinois presented evidence that the casinos depend on compulsive gamblers for much of their profits. These gamblers represent only 4 percent of adults, but they may account for as much as 52 percent of a casino's revenues.

Similarly, the NGISC's study estimates that 51 percent of all state lottery revenues come from just 5 percent of lottery players.

The NGISC report concludes that about five million problem gamblers live in the U.S. Add to this an additional fifteen million who are at risk of developing a gambling problem.

Some of the most valuable casino real estate in the world is now located in Detroit, Michigan. Not exactly mainstream vacation territory, but the first casinos to locate in a major blue-collar community.

How has casino gambling rolled out across the country with so little opposition? How does it happen?

A script for a politician advocating the introduction of gambling would be written like this: "Each year here in our community there are people who spend money on recreational forms of gambling. Millions of dollars are leaving each year for Las Vegas as gamblers hop planes to enjoy legalized gambling."

Next comes a short pause for breath as the speaker repeats for emphasis: "Millions of dollars fly out of (insert name of major metropolitan airport) every year for Las Vegas."

Pause again: "Money which could be going to create jobs and benefit our community right here at home!"

Then, almost as an afterthought: "What can we do about it?"
The obvious punch line is: We need casino gambling in (insert name of municipality or state)

This script is acted out again and again as gambling spreads - supposedly for the good of the community.

So who cares that problem gambling can be devastating to an individual and his family? One recent report from the National Opinion Research Center concludes that out-of-control gamblers suffer financially, emotionally and physically - and so do their families. Divorce, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect often are the immediate consequences of problem gambling. And the children of gamblers are more likely to use drugs and get into trouble.

Next time you see that casino in the distance or the off-track betting parlor, think of Sgt. Solomon Bell and the blood gushing from the gunshot wounds to his brain.

Two Very Different Stories

One night last summer on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, a police officer was confronted by something he'd never seen before. "I've seen a lot of things and taken a lot of abuse doing drug busts," he said. "But this is the first time anyone I've arrested has ever asked me for a hug."

There are at least two very different stories about Ecstasy, the so-called "love drug." This current headline drug of abuse is the star of parties called "raves" and makes headlines with teenagers getting blotto as it sometimes burns out their brains.

Yet the drug we call Ecstasy is rarely the same drug in its pure chemical form - 3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-Methylamphetamine, or MDMA.

The contents of the pills downed at raves are random, variable, and quite often toxic. The recipes for making E can be found easily on the Internet, (although I'm certainly not recommending this).

Horror stories abound about poisonous pills containing Paramethamphetamine or PMA - a toxic chemical produced when the chemistry goes wrong. Most of the chemicals used can be bought at your local hardware store. The industrial chemicals used in the processing are not designed for human consumption, but then again, at $35-$40 a pill for what costs pennies to make - who cares? A drug dealer? Not likely.

It's easy to be opposed to the abuse of recreational drugs. Even if drugs were legalized today, would we allow teenagers to abuse them for fun at a party? No, not at all. Yet the story of the drug we call Ecstasy has another side that's equally illegal, but unjustly so.

To understand the clinical side of the story you have to go back to 1965 when a research pharmacologist, Dr. Alexander (Sasha) Shulgin, had a license from the U.S. Government to examine materials which were suspected of being compounds that are usually restricted ("scheduled").

Shulgin is known as the Godfather of Ecstasy. A title he accepts a little grudgingly, explaining that "I'm a little leery of calling it Ecstasy because I don't know exactly how many things can be brought in under that umbrella."

He can't claim to be the father of the invention because the drug was first synthesized and patented by Merck Pharmaceuticals before World War One.

Together with his wife Ann, a researcher and writer, Shulgin has researched and self- tested about 150-200 drug compounds.

In their book PIKHAL they document their "rediscovery" of MDMA: "I made it in my lab and nibbled. It gave me a pleasant lightness of spirit. That's all. No psychedelic effects whatsoever. Just a distinct lightness of mood. And an indication to get busy and do things that needed doing."

Drugs are a family affair for the Shulgins. As Ann explains, "I'm the first person who tries out a new drug after Sasha has gone through the long, slow, and careful process of testing it out himself until he finds activity. The first little amount of any drug that you take might be down in the microgram level. He tries a new level out every few days and when he finds some activity and he's able to define what that activity is then we take it together. We make notes on the effects and the results are published in medical journals."

Prior to 1985, the year it was banned, MDMA was known by many names including Empathy and was used by psychologists, hypnotherapists, and psychotherapists. The Shulgins note that it was enough to show that it was an effective drug to achieve insight without fear.

It is still used in therapy as in the case of Sue Stevens, a 32-year-old widowed mother of three. She used MDMA along with her terminally ill husband, Shane, to help him overcome his pain from cancer and to mend the rift it had caused in their relationship.

According to Stevens their MDMA usage helped take away the sense of hopelessness they had and allowed them the chance to discuss the difficult issues surrounding his death. They emerged from the session as a team who would stand together to fight his cancer and defied a doctor's predictions by extending his life three additional years. Stevens is a vocal advocate for the legalization of MDMA, particularly for the terminally ill.

Likewise, the Shulgins want the drug to become legally available for use in therapy. But they also understand the reasons for its popularity with kids. As Ann Shulgin explains "when it first got out on the street it made people feel so warm, so pleasant. It's described as euphoric, but it's not so much a euphoria-producing drug as it sort of opens your heart. You feel a self-acceptance," she says.

Can it be that a drug that makes people feel warm and friendly towards other people can have a down side? Yes. Even Sasha Shulgin concedes you can get too much of a good thing. "One of the extraordinary things about MDMA is that it has a magic about it. But, if you use it too much the magic disappears. So, one of the greedy moves of people who want that magic is to double and triple the dose. That's where you get the overdoses."

The Shulgins, however, are careful to always put MDMA in a positive light.

Ann Shulgin says: "The people have to have their own vehicle, their own love which separates them from the older generation. You had the Grateful Dead concerts, the summer of love in 1967 where LSD and a lot of other drugs were used. This new generation identifies itself by the Techno music and getting together at parties called Raves."

Like I suggested earlier, one drug, at least two stories.

Peter Breggin Sets Us Straight And Free

The propaganda from drug manufacturers would have you believe there is a great drug for every problem. Merely mention to your doctor that you're feeling something out of the ordinary, and he'll have his prescription pad ready.

In their book, YOUR DRUG MAY BE YOUR PROBLEM, authors Peter Breggin and David Cohen detail a common scenario: "Feeling Fatigued? Take Prozac. Feeling as though you've lost your enthusiasm or direction? Take Paxil or Zoloft, especially if Prozac hasn't worked. Feeling trapped in an abusive relationship? Take Effexor, Luvox, or Lithium. Feeling a little nervous? Take Xanax, Klonopin, or Ativan. Having trouble disciplining your child? Give the child Ritalin, or Dexedrine, or Adderall. Having trouble focussing on work that bores you? Try Ritalin for yourself. Having ups and downs of any kind? Take any number of psychiatric drugs."

It’s So Clever and So Cute

Read this story > > >