…studies compiled by various government health agencies show that the five most-chronicled “hard” addictions — alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling and eating disorders — are what society truly pays for. Those maladies cost taxpayers and businesses $590 billion annually, primarily in lost productivity and government-assisted medical treatment. That’s about 5% of the national debt. And it doesn’t count the sometimes bankrupting amounts of money those people personally spend on drugs, liquor, cigarettes or at the craps tables. Economically, those purchases are treated as pure transfer payments, no different than any other form of shopping….
Now, if those issues cost that much, why do you suppose the government puts up with it? How much do your figure the politicians are raking in from the people who sell this stuff, one way or another?
The 5 most expensive addictions – MSN Money
Boosting Medical Students’ Training in Drug Abuse – Health Blog – WSJ
Today, the National Institute on Drug Abuse jumped into the fray, announcing new teaching tools designed to help doctors-in-training — medical students and residents — learn about assessing and treating patients with abuse problems, including tobacco, prescription drugs and illicit substances.
How about alcohol, the most-abused drug of all by a wide margin?
Sex addiction rehab – like that of ESPN’s Steve Phillips – can provide help for serial cheaters
A beautiful family, financial security, an enviable career – in other words, the seemingly perfect life. Yet for high-profile men like actor David Duchovny and fired ESPN analyst Steve Phillips, an addiction to sex ended in a highly publicized stint in rehab. Their addiction is no different from other forms of addiction, experts say, wrecking relationships, destroying families and causing losses, pain and heartbreak.
Oh, it’s not an addiction? What’s more mood-altering?
I’m just finishing Undrunk – A Skeptic’s Guide to AA, by A. J. Adams (Hazelden, 2009). Undrunk may be the most lucid explanation of what AA is (and is not), how it functions and “how it works” that I’ve ever read, including all of the AA-Approved literature. It is at once a primer for the reader who just isn’t quite sure, an explanation for newcomers, and a great narrative of a personal journey, written with eloquence and wit. Along with being funny (at least to those of us who have been there), it’s almost never boring.
Still, as impressed as I am by the book’s content, style and presentation, I have to worry about the writer just a little. Why? Because when he wrote the book, published this year, he was just one year sober.
I know a little bit about writing, and about the research, proofreading, editing, re-writing and so forth that’s involved in birthing a book of any kind. I know that producing a good book — and this is a good book — can pretty much consume a person. I also know, from personal and painful experience, how analyzing AA and becoming a self-made guru can mess with a person’s own development in early recovery. I’m not accusing A. J. of this; I’m just sayin’.
These three things: research, analysis and immersion, create a two-edged sword. On one hand, you have the potential of creating a know-it-all attitude that can seriously hamper your ability to listen, learn, and apply the collective wisdom of the fellowship to your own life. On the other, by immersing in the pool of experience and tradition that is the essence of a 12-step group, there is the potential for deeper understanding and application to self, if approached with a major dose of good ol’ humility.
I like the book. I really, really like it. But I hope things work out better for the writer than they did in this scribe’s early recovery. I’m sure that much of Undrunk’s appeal is due to the enthusiasm of the newcomer who did such a fine job of writing it.
I just hope he’ll be OK.
The whole question:
I drink 6-8 units* every night, but if I start feeling even slightly fuzzy I stop drinking. Last time I got drunk was 3 and half years ago, so am I alcoholic?
Most people would feel a buzz after less alcohol than that, so you have already developed a tolerance to the drug – one of the first signs of a developing addiction.
What happens if you don’t drink for a week? If you can’t do that comfortably, there’s some kind of problem, call it what you will. In any case, your level of drinking is sufficient to adversely affect your health – digestion, liver and cardiovascular systems among other things - over the long term.
*A “unit” of alcohol is a standard measure used in many countries to quantify alcohol intake. It is usually re-expressed as a measure of beer, wine, or spirits for convenience. One standard drink always contains the same amount of alcohol regardless of container size or type of alcoholic beverage. The standard drink varies significantly from country to country, from 7.62 ml (6 g) of alcohol in Austria to as high as 25 ml (19.75 g) in Japan. In the United States, it is equal to 17.7 ml (14 grams) of pure alcohol.
Q&A: Is it harder for a smoker to give up smoking than for an alcoholic to give up drinking, and are the two comparable at all?
It is obvious to those of us who have worked in the addiction field, especially we who are in recovery ourselves, that the degree of desire is a key factor in recovery from any addiction. To put it simply, people who truly want to stop have an easier time of it than those who are not completely convinced that they need to do so (who, in fact, rarely do stop).
In the case of alcohol and most other drugs, their devastating effects create conditions that sometimes break through the denial of the addict and give him or her the moment of clarity needed to make a real commitment.
With cigarettes and other nicotine vehicles, there is the issue that it will probably not read more…
Farmville: An addiction worth cultivating? — Courant.com
For weeks now, Farmville the popular and excessively addictive Facebook game everyone’s talking about has been demanding my attention.But not because I’m playing it.
In fact, based on what I’ve learned, I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid playing it….
When lay Buddhists “take refuge,” the Buddhist equivalent of confirmation, bar mitzvah, and similar ceremonies affirming one’s belief, they agree to attempt to live in conformity with the Five Precepts. (Some sects have eight, ten and even more, but the minimum is five.)
These precepts can be, and have been, translated in many ways in the 2600 years since the Buddha taught. Details vary, but a fair translation of the Fifth Precept (always the fifth, regardless of the total number of precepts) would be:
The basis of Buddhist philosophy is mindfulness, the opposite of carelessness. This is the idea that we should live our lives with attention, in order to live them well. Clearly, the use of alcohol or drugs that cloud the mind would not be conducive to mindfulness.
However, the precepts are considered to be guidelines. Buddhists do not recognize the concepts of sin and punishment for sin. Rather they believe in karma, the idea that bad behavior leads to bad experiences. They consider life and practice to be one and the same, and that both are composed of effort to attain perfect clarity of mind. Thus, one who fails to live up to the precept would create his own difficulties.
So, the answer to your question, in context, is that Buddhists attempt to refrain from all behavior that clouds the mind, but if they fail to do so they are perceived as creating their own consequences — clouded mind and whatever else — which are obstacles along the path to the goal of complete clarity.
If this makes it sound like no answer, that is the answer. Each person’s behavior is what it is, and it is not up to the rest of us to label it as acceptable or not, in the context of Buddhism.
However, in simple terms, it is thought best that if they do drink, they should avoid intoxication.
Editorial: Who needs drug courts? | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/17/2009
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers conducted the two-year study that says drug courts too often suck up a community’s drug-treatment funds to use on nonviolent criminals like Britt Reid, who may have their own resources to deal with their addictions.Meanwhile, other defendants, including men arrested for domestic violence whose acts are clearly related to their addictions, are denied entry into a drug-court program that would address their drug or alcohol abuse.
“Too often, the criteria and process for admission into drug court is guided by tough-on-crime politics, focusing on first-time or nonviolent offenders, with little consideration of smart-on-crime approaches that target those most in need of treatment,” said the defense lawyers’ report….
In terms of cancer, cigars tend to produce cancer of the digestive system — stomach, intestines, colon — more often than cigarettes, which cause more lung cancer due to more inhalation. Both cause cancers of the mouth, throat and esophagus. In those respects they are more or less equal.
The big difference is that cigarettes also partially saturate your blood with carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas. Even though it does not reach lethal levels from the cigarettes, it can displace oxygen in up to 50% of your red blood cells, which prevents your organs (including your brain) from receiving the support they need. Over time, when combined with nicotine’s property of causing blood vessels to contract, this leads to heart and other circulatory problems.
Either is a lousy choice.
Reuters: Smoking bans cut heart attacks by a third
Communities that have passed laws banning smoking in public places, such as bars and restaurants, have seen a significant drop in heart attacks. American, Canadian, and European cities that implemented smoking bans had an average of 17 percent fewer heart attacks in the first year than communities that did not take such measures. After three years, heart attack rates in smoke-free communities fell as much as 36 percent. In the US, a nationwide ban could prevent as many as 225,000 heart attacks annually.
The details vary, but in general:
- The presence of the substance in the brain alters the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and especially dopamine.
- The brain adapts physically to the altered levels of those substances.
- At that point, it is necessary to continue the substance in order to feel anything like normal, even if one does not use enough to get high.
Recovery from addiction is largely a matter of sustaining the body and mind, physically and otherwise, until the brain has regained as close to normal functioning as it is able. This may take from months to years, depending on the drug, the amount used and how long the addiction continued before abstinence.
From the above, you can see that the absolute prerequisite for recovery from any addiction is total abstinence from substances or activities that create the same extreme chemical changes as the drug of choice.
Singer Fergie on giving up gangs and drugs – Times Online
How did it start? “It started with ecstasy. I loved ecstasy. Loved it, loved it. It was great at first, then it just went…” she mimes a crashing plane with her forearm. And crystal meth?…
Some Remarks (quite a few, actually) About Spirituality in 12-Step Programs
I wish folks who do not meditate would NOT go around the AA fellowship telling everyone that they have done the steps and practice these principles in all their affairs. It’s a LIE!
I never used to be able to show up consistently. I would either call in sick or just not show up at all if I thought I could “get away” with it. I never got away with anything because I always knew.
