Hello,
In response, not everyone will tell you that the
first thing you must do is deal with the addiction.
Dealing with an addiction is an on-going process, not
the end result of a one day epiphany deriving out of
a first reading of AA or NA Literature. Quite the
contrary, a great deal of the literature refers to
co-occuring or dual diagnoses. Many chronic
substance and alcohol abusers, as well as, those
who are truly "addicts" in a physiological sense,
are also impacted by other issues: They are the
victims of child abuse and sexual assault; many
suffer from PTSD (combat vets from Vietnam would
be a prime and well-known example); those who
suffer from FAS; people who cannot afford access
to-or pay for-medications that would alleviate
the symptomologies prevalent in sufferers of bi-polar
disorder, major depression, shizophrenia and schizo-
affective disorder, and a wide array of other
psychiatric disorders--many with a definitive
physiological component. And you are dead wrong
about Hazelden-or any other facility holding forth
even a semblance of credibility-maintaining that
simple abstinence from use in the presence of
severe and persistent varieties of a mental illness
will provide a lasting solution. Every shred of
credible evidence out there would uphold this
assertion. Since AA and Hazelden have been cited
specifically, I suggest you re-visit the literature...
you have missed a great deal.
Locally, there are abundant sources that uphold
the futility of effectively resolving a chronic
addictive disorder when it is accompanied by a
psychiatric diagnosis of sufficient severity. I've
already cited some of these, they are readily
available. If you wish to hold forth research, ensure
its accuracy. If you wish to throw out a version
of societal ills as portrayed on prime-time
television...that's another matter altogether.
"Heroine" (sic) addicts and those who can't read...
that is an interesting juxtaposition, isn't it?
Like you said, "anyone who has thought about it"
would realize that 'Bedlam' is a word used in a
pejorative sense for a reason. Indiscriminately
tossing in hardened criminals alongside of those
hearing voices is a ridiculous solution--a solution
the inhumanity of which was long ago overcome, one
would think. Apparently not. Anyone who has thought
about it would realize that today's prisons are
gladiator schools that don't foster reform...for
many they serve as another vehicle for the
proliferation of networking amongst a core of
a hardened criminal element...
Again, at what point do we stop tossing the
least advantaged of our population into prison?
The high rate of recidivism attests to the failure
of this approach.
Hey, I know, let's discover a continent. Whenever
someone perpetrates an infraction, we'll send the
offender to the new colony...perhaps we could have
more than one colony. We could institute a "Bloody
Code" as they did in England during the 18th Century-
99 offenses punishable by death. The alternative
would be emigration and a set period of indentured
servitude. Would that work? Oh yeah...that has
already been tried...the colonies formed were the
United States of America and Australia.
Guy Gambill
(Uptown)
"This post ducks the issue and assumes that the care
at a Camp Ripley institution would somehow be
inhumane. That throws the issue into another file
folder of poverty pimping.
Anyone who has thought about it will tell you that
whether you have a million issues or only one, if you
are an addict, the first thing to do is deal with the
addiction. You'll get that info from AA, from pricey
Hazelton, or from a much humbler treatment facility.
The issue is addiction and it's effect on the body
politic. So, if the cops catch you with the crack, the
heroine, the meth or whatever, the court case will be
the addiction. I'm proposing to address the issue,
addiction, and the excuses for it--I can't read, I
can't write, I can't do math, I can't take care of
myself. Let's not wander all over the map looking for
a way to avoid the issue."
____________________________________________________
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http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
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