Setting the Record Straight

Let’s set the record straight. In regards to 12 Step Programs here’s what I was taught by those who went before me and what I tell newcomers who ask me questions or to sponsor them. First of all the guide to the 12 Steps is the Basic Text of Alcoholics Anonymous (Big Book).  It was written by the first 100 members of AA and hasn’t changed since 1939. The Big Book states:

We of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred, men and women,

who have RECOVERED from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.

 

Note the word: Recovered. It’s not recovering. We have completed and continue to work the 12 Steps and as a result are no longer powerless over alcohol. As Step One says: “We WERE powerless…” This nonsense people spout that if one doesn’t say they are recovering they are going to relapse is pure nonsense. Why would I want to join a fellowship if there was no hope in sight? It was the hope I felt leaving my first meeting that prompted me to go to my second meeting and so on and so on.

 

Now let’s address marijuana. In regards to a 12 Step Program if you are using marijuana you are not in recovery. I’m not saying not to do it if you think it’s helping you out medicinally in some way. I’m just saying when it comes to the programs of AA, CA, NA, etc. you are not considered recovered if you’re smoking, eating etc. the Ganja. I can’t join the Church of Scientology and then say Xenu doesn’t exist. If I join a 12 Step Program then I have to respect the program not try to change it meet my current condition. That’s what I did when I was active in my addiction. I kept trying to change the outside world to suit me rather than changing myself. “Lack of power that was our dilemma” (Big Book).

 

“Now about sex…It’s so easy to get way off track. Here we find human opinions running to extremes” I keep hearing judgment of others who have relationships in the Fellowship. Let’s use some common sense. For many people if they want to be successful in recovery they have to give up many of their old friends and acquaintances. I know my first year of sobriety I was going to a minimum of one meeting a day, two if I was able. I would then go to a coffee shop every night to hang out with sober people and to shoot the shit. Just as romances strike up at some people’s workplaces it’s inevitable that romances are going to strike up in the Fellowship as that is where the majority of one’s socializing occurs. Now, I’m not advocating someone with multiple years of sobriety trying to bang a newcomer – I’m a firm believer in men stick with men and women with women – however, if two people, who are rooted in their recovery, decide to go out what business is it of ours to judge? I say good luck.

 

Finally I’ll end with talking about people who show up to a meeting intoxicated or they are still drinking outside of the meetings. I’ll quote a long-timer who talked to me about this early in my recovery: You don’t sober up to come to AA. You come to AA to sober up.

 

And that’s me setting the record straight.

Dave the Dude

The alternative to decrminalization

The Toronto Board of Health has joined others around Canada in asking for all drugs to be decriminalized. If this occurred we would be join the ranks of countries like Portugal who having done this have cut the number of addicts in half, lowered crime rates and lowered healthcare costs. But, of course, as this nation is afraid of such a “radical” approach it will not happen. In fact, the Trudeau government has said as much. There is another way where we can treat drug addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal one.

We already have mental health diversion courts so why not drug/alcohol diversion courts. The mental health diversion allows people who have committed a crime to have a chance to get better rather than go to jail. There are a lot of rules someone must follow or they forfeit their diversion and go to jail. Rules may include adherence to taking medications as prescribed, going to therapy groups and/or individual therapy, etc. It seems to work and helps keep the already clogged up courts from being more encumbered. Think of the money and time that could be saved if such a diversion system were put in place for people suffering from addiction?

Rather than wasting money on sending people to prison for drug possession, where they get no help and the problem worsens, it could be spent on helping them. Why not put the money into treatment programs, both residential and out-patient? In order for this to work there would have to be enough programs where a person doesn’t have to wait months to get a spot in treatment. There is a very narrow window to get someone into treatment once they decide they want help. It’s the nature of the disease. The only disease that tricks the person into thinking they don’t have it. If the government opens up more treatment centres then people will get the help they need. This will cut down on health care costs, court costs and police costs. Probably save money on social service costs as well. One mode of thinking that would have to change is the government’s perception that 12 Steps is a religion and therefore does not qualify for funding. 12 Step programs are not a religion! But that’s for another blog.

Dave the Dude

Stereotypes, Responsiblity and Treatment Centres

My friend and I have been having a lot of conversations recently about stereotypes people have of other cultures, religions, races, creeds, etc. Being of the Jewish faith/culture I told him that, although it is unfair, I feel that Jewish people have to be extra careful not to do things that perpetuate stereotypes. Now remember what I just said as its relevance will become clear soon.

There is a real issue in Ontario with unregulated alcohol and drug treatment centres. If you have enough money, buy a house/building in the right zone, you can open your own treatment centre. Hire whomever you want, charge whatever you want and do any type of crazy treatment you want. I’ve worked at three really unethical places. These places care little for the clients and even less about their employees. I have a friend who currently works at a treatment centre that fits this description to a tee. These treatment centres are usually opened by people new to recovery who decide it would be cool open one. They know nothing about addiction or mental health but think they can help people. Eventually they just end up wanting to make money.

Now I know my story is anecdotal but three of the four places I’m familiar with are owned by Jewish people. The owners try to get clients to stay longer in treatment by getting counsellors to persuade them to stay longer – a longer stay means more money. They try to get employees to do it even it won’t benefit the client. I remember being told to say the following if any client ever inquired if longer treatment would be helpful: “A longer stay is always beneficial”. I had to say this even if the person was doing well and I was confident they were ready to re-enter the real world (meaning they did well in treatment and had a good recovery plan for when they left). The same owners have a history of bouncing employee cheques, not paying proper vacation pay, not providing pay stubs and other labour law violations. If they’re not called on it they don’t give a crap. One time I was working for this totally unethical place and the head guy (he is Jewish) took all sick pay away. When I asked why he told me it was for my benefit so I would have an incentive to stay healthy. Can you say scumbag?

You’re probably asking, “yo Dave, why don’t you name these places you speak of?” Well due to non-disclosure agreements I was forced to sign I can’t. You see they know they are scum and don’t want it advertised.

So getting back to my original point, as I said three of these four places are owned by Jewish individuals. I really feel they have a responsibility not to act in such an indecent, dare I say it – Trump-like, fashion. The responsibility is to their Jewish brethren as their actions reflect poorly on the rest of us. I know that an overwhelming majority of Jewish people are great people and upstanding citizens. I’m sure if you look at all races, creeds, etc. you’d fine the same percentage of scummy people versus great people. But as a business owner who deals with people these guys should be extra careful and treat people well so that gentiles leave with a feeling that Jewish people are great people to deal with. This is just my humble opinion.

Dave the Dude

Anti-recovery, Anti-therapeutic and Darn mean.

I’ve written before on antiquated treatment centre rules. Now that we’re in the 21^st Century there seems to be a whole new set of rules coming to some centres. The worst is forcing people to quit smoking as a requirement for treatment. Yes, I know, there have been numerous studies that show that it’s easier to quit smoking when you’re quitting everything else but that doesn’t mean you should force someone to do it. And other studies have shown that smoking cigarettes can cause relapse but so can breaking up with someone or a death in the family – you can’t safe guard against everything. I wholeheartedly agree with encouraging someone to quit smoking, providing nicotine patches, Champix, etc. However, penalizing people who smoke seems counterproductive to me.

When I first got sober I was actively drinking alcohol and smoking crack cocaine. I was also a smoker. I’m not sure I would have been successful in treatment if I had been forced to quit tobacco as well. I did eventually quit but it was several years into sobriety. The difference between tobacco and alcohol/drugs is that most people aren’t going to sell all their belongings, steal and/or miss work/commitments because of cigarettes.

I have a buddy who was in treatment and doing well. The treatment centre had adopted a no smoking policy. After a successful time at this treatment centre he had earned an outing. During the outing my friend ended up having a couple cigarettes. Returning to treatment he admitted this to his counsellor (honesty is important in recovery) and the centre counted this as a relapse promptly kicking him out. He didn’t come back to the centre intoxicated. He did not drink alcohol, smoke crack or use opiates on his outing but he broke down and had a couple cigarettes. In my humble opinion kicking someone out of treatment for a “breach” like this only serves to hurt the person and possibly be a catalyst for a relapse into drugs and alcohol. What type of lesson is this? Nicotine is, if not the hardest, than one of the hardest addictions to beat. Penalizing a person for having a cigarette on an outing is anti-recovery, anti-therapeutic and darn mean.

Dave the Dude

 

 

Follow Portugal not the U.S.

Today on the news I heard people on the street being asked their opinions regarding a proposal, by someone in the Trudeau government, to decriminalize all substances. Not surprising many people thought it was the wrong move thinking it would increase and promote drug use. This is just not the case. Our current way with dealing with drug addiction is just not working. Treating a sick person as a criminal not only clogs up our courtrooms, costing millions of dollars; it also doesn’t help the sick person and costs our health care system millions as well.

Canada has to stop following the lead of our neighbours to the south and, rather, look to our European neighbour Portugal. Portugal has decriminalized all substances and the results have been remarkable. The number of addicts has decreased exponentially as well as the number of people dying from overdoses. Instead of wasting millions of dollars prosecuting people for using illegal substances Portugal spends the money on treating them. Canada needs to stop treating the disease of addiction in the justice system and treat it in the health care system (i.e. – treatment). Getting someone recovered from an addiction saves money in the long run for our health care system rather than the current band aid solution.

One misunderstanding I heard on the radio today was that people think decriminalization means drug dealers will not be punished. That is not the case. Portugal does not punish the addict but does prosecute the trafficker. Again I say, Canada needs to follow suit.

As a person in recovery there’s an Einstein quote that is often spoken: Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result, is the definition of insanity. Our current system is not working and we keep thinking it will. Recent stats have shown that the number of organ donors have gone way up in Vancouver saving many lives. This is a bittersweet statistic as the reason for this rise is that the majority of donors are people who have died due to an opiate overdose.

Opiate addicts, and all the other addicts, are hiding in the wings because we treat them like criminals rather than sick people. I’m not saying that we let addicts off with crimes they have committed as a result of their addiction as making amends for those crimes is part of the recovery process. What I’m saying is that we need to go after the traffickers not the people they are killing.

Dave the Dude