4th National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery: Thriving in Changing Times

One of the key elements to the recovery community is the community, the strong network that alcoholics and addicts use to lean on in times of struggle. Staying connected to your peers who are also working for a better life through recovery is so important; how well one stays connected to the community will make or break one's success. Within the 12 Step community there are a number of ways one can reach out on top of one's daily or weekly meetings that can help strengthen one's recovery and help give back to the community that has helped them. Every year countless conferences are held all over the world that bring hundreds and thousands in recovery together.

Thriving in Changing Times will be the theme of this year's National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery. It will happen at the Chicago Marriott Downtown, Magnificent Mile, on July 26-28, 2010. "The conference is grounded in the principles of recovery and gender-responsive, trauma-informed care", according to JoinTogether.

The conference offers opportunities to explore a wide array of topics such as the following:

• family-centered treatment
• health policy affecting women's treatment
• women and the criminal justice system
• co-occurring mental and health conditions
• comprehensive recovery support for women
• using technology in innovative ways
• culturally responsive approaches
• workforce development strategies

Speakers include:

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., Stephanie Covington, Ph.D., Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., Carol McDaid, Lisa Najavits, Ph.D., Francine Ward, J.D., Hon. Pamela S. Hyde (invited), Hon. R. Gil Kerlikowske (invited), Hon. Richard M. Daley (invited), Ijeoma Achara, Ph.D., Hortensia Amaro, Ph.D., Aida Giachello, Ph.D., Nancy Young, Ph.D. among others!

Sponsored by:
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in partnership with Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC).

Co-Sponsored by:
NASADAD Women's Service Network; The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare; and State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS); in partnership with SAMHSA's Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network.

U.S. Army Soldiers With Alcohol Problems

High stress jobs have always been a contributing factor to the amount of alcohol consumed by employees. The military has always struggled with how to handle alcoholism both at home and in war zones. In 2009, over 9,000 soldiers got treatment for alcohol abuse, this treatment consisted of regular trips to a counselor; the number of soldiers needing assistance with their alcohol problems is up from 6,000 in 2003. Multiple tours in Iraqi combat zones have had a direct effect on the number of U.S. Army soldiers with alcohol problems; combat stress has caused the number of diagnosed alcohol problems to double since 2003.

The military offers soldiers the opportunity to seek help for their addictions, similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. Soldiers who seek help will not have that information put into their permanent records which will keep their career intact. This is a pretty amazing thing, no longer will alcoholism be a cause for promotion denial; having notes of alcoholism in one's record use to keep soldiers from ever advancing career wise. Lots of soldiers discover they have an alcohol problem in the worst of environments; swift action to help these individuals is extremely necessary.

In the 1990's the Army banned the use of alcohol in combat zones; which resulted in fewer alcohol related disciplinary problems with soldiers overall. Unfortunately, those military units that were charged with going back into combat a second or third time found the stress too much to handle, alcohol was an easy solution. Drugs, for the most part, are easy to detect making them an unlikely choice amongst soldiers for stress relief. When soldiers get back from combat, they end up hitting the booze twice as hard as they did before being deployed.

It is great that the military offers some support for those struggling with alcohol. However, it does appear that they would rather sweep alcoholics under the rug than have their records and the military's record smeared. Just seeing a counselor once a week will hardly have any long term effect towards recovery.

Becky DeKeuster of Berkeley Patients Group

On December 17th, our post dealt with the State of Maine setting up their medical marijuana program. A few days later we received a comment on our post via Live Journal from Becky DeKeuster of Berkeley Patients Group. We shared Becky DeKeuster's comments with you on December 31, 2009, and we promised to respond to Ms. DeKeuster. Please see below our comments.

Dear Ms. DeKeuster,
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post and for so eloquently sharing important information. I understand that you needed to correct my statement: "The same people who are helping Maine set up a medical marijuana program are also trying to have full on legalization voted on in the next year in California." I will agree with you this statement is rather broad. Without enough research, I implied, based on an assumption from the news articles that the Berkeley Patients Group would be in favor of full legalization. I did not mean to imply that you have or would take an official stand on legal or recreational use of cannabis. After all, as far as legal use, medicinal legal use was passed in California in 1996 and Berkeley Patients Group was founded in 1999. I understand now that recreational legalization is not part of BPG's agenda.

I have now visited your web site and read your mission statement. I have also taken the time to read the PDF "Declare Saturday, October 31 2009, 'Berkeley Patients Group Day' In the City Of Berkeley." This declaration was very informative, providing a historical review of Proposition 215 and Berkeley Patients Group activities over the past 13 years.

I appreciate your clarification and your wish for a "do-over" regarding the wild-west metaphor. I, too, have been following this topic for a number of years and I recognize that each state finds they must individually navigate these waters very carefully and diligently. I am frequently amazed at the obvious differences in how medicinal marijuana dispensaries are managed in northern California towns and cities, as compared to what I see and read about in Southern California.

I don't think we are too far apart regarding the pharmacology issues. I did not mean to imply that I believe that marijuana should only be available in pharmacies distributed in THC pill form. What I wanted to assure is that it be regulated and, therefore, look forward to it not only in a synthesized formula, but also the natural herbal form being distributed by pharmacies. I do understand that patients indicate that the delivery format of the herbal form appears to be more efficient for pain relief, not unlike, I would think, the surgical patient receiving a morphine drip, as opposed to a Vicodin tablet.

The bigger question remains, should marijuana be approved for recreational sale and use, like alcohol? And if it is, how will it be managed, controlled, sold, distributed? We know addiction is a disease. Many people use marijuana, but like alcohol drinkers not all are abusers. Addiction affects minimally 25% of the population. Managing medicinal marijuana use will be perhaps left to our health care providers, who will need to decide if herbal marijuana is the correct course for each individual patient.

Going forward we will continue our work to educate and assist those seeking recovery and sobriety.

Crack Inhalation Room Where Addicts Can Go To Smoke Their Cocaine

There is talk in British Columbia about an experimental new study that would help the government determine why HIV and AIDS rates among Crack smokers are rising. The plan on the drawing board is to set up a crack inhalation room where addicts can go to smoke their cocaine in a sterile environment in order to see if it stops the increase of HIV/AIDS numbers. "Researchers tracked 1,048 crack cocaine users over a nine-year period and found that 137 became HIV positive. The reason for the increase is not definitive. But researchers, which included the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said disease transmission could be attributed to wounds produced around the mouth when smoking crack from a pipe", according to the Vancouver Courier. British Columbia is well aware that the war on drugs is not being handled properly and that drastic steps may be needed if the problem is going to be helped. Obviously, let's face it, there is a lot of hesitation regarding this subject matter; having a place where Crack smokers can get high just seems counter-intuitive.

Proponents of the trial inhalation room like Dr. Evan Wood, who was behind the study that showed the spike in HIV/AIDS rates among Crack cocaine users, point to the United States as an a reason for trying out the controversial inhalation room. "He pointed to research in the United States that showed a high number of people incarcerated for cocaine offences who are not receiving treatment. He noted the so-called "war on drugs" in the United States and in Canada has done nothing to stem the flow of drugs. Wood suggested he could buy drugs in less than 10 minutes of walking outside the Carnegie Centre, the location of the press conference", reported the Vancouver Courier. Canada has always had a more relaxed view on drugs than the United States; it is not surprising that leaders would be interested in such a drastic experiment.

The inhalation rooms could be a place where councilors and doctors could have a chance to help addicts get into recovery. Ultimately, if drug use drops then it stands to reason that disease rates would too. It wouldn't be a bad thing to have an experiment to determine how the virus is being transmitted, but, it seems the number one objective should be getting the addicts off the streets by providing the option of treatment as much as possible. Prevention is always the best answer in a country where crack and methamphetamine use is rising.

More Killed At Another Drug Treatment Facility

At least 10 people, patients and therapists, were killed at another drug treatment facility in Ciudad Juarez. Armed men attacked a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts in the violent border city for the second time in two weeks, authorities said Wednesday. The streets of Juarez are chaotic to say the least, but, this is the sixth drug treatment center attacked in the last 13 months. As we reported earlier this month 18 people were slain in the same way September 2. "Scores of treatment centers for people suffering from drug and alcohol abuse have sprung up in Mexican cities, reflecting the country's fast-growing addiction problem. Once just a pathway for drugs headed to the United States, Mexico has become a consumer nation; the government says the number of addicts increased by 51 percent from 2002 to 2008", the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Unfortunately, homes of recovery and rehabilitation have become hideouts for the very same people trafficking the drugs and the centers are used as recruiting grounds. This stark reality has led to the horrific executions by rival gangs where, sadly, innocent bystanders get caught in the mix.

"Despite a heavy military presence, Juarez is Mexico's most violent city in a raging drug war that has claimed more than 13,000 lives since December 2006", according to the SFC. Nobody is safe from the violence, Tuesday's attack at the Life Annex treatment left dead Dr. Iram Ortiz, the director, along with one female patient, seven male patients, and one other doctor. The Life Annex, whose name has become rather counter intuitive, is a center located in a working-class neighborhood of Juarez. "A survivor, who watched the massacre from a hiding place inside the clinic, told reporters that as many as eight men opened fire at random, shooting patients and anyone else in the building".

The Coco Bongo nightclub in Juarez was attacked, Wednesday, as customers were celebrating Mexican Independence Day. This shooting left five people dead and there is no doubt that this attack was drug cartel related. Once again it seems very clear that there is no safe place for anyone along the border cities; hospitals, treatment centers, and even night clubs. What will it take for Mexico to take control of its country again? The "wild west" has clearly moved south into what has become the lawless lands of beautiful, yet dangerous, Mexico. My heart goes out to all the innocent people caught in the middle of this greed driven war to supply drugs into the United States. What will it take to cure the human epidemic?

Rapper Coolio has Pleaded Guilty in Los Angeles to Felony Cocaine Possession

"Rapper Coolio has pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to felony cocaine possession in a deal that requires him to spend 18 months in rehab. District attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison says the 45-year-old rapper, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey, entered his plea Friday in Superior Court. Coolio was arrested March 6 at Los Angeles International Airport. He allegedly grabbed a screener's arm to prevent a search of his luggage. As part of the plea deal, misdemeanor charges of battery and possession of a smoking device were dismissed. A judge ordered Coolio to enter an 18-month drug rehabilitation program. He can request the judge dismiss his case if he successfully completes the program. He's due back in court Sept. 28 for a report on his progress." ---Associated Press, June 26, 2009.

This is a familiar story, very similar to many stars who have gotten caught up with drugs. Robert Downey, Jr. is a person who was ordered to drug and alcohol treatment over and over. But, unfortunately he continued to relapse and could never seem to get it. Prison was the only thing that made him realize that he needed to change his ways.

Recovery has to be something that you want and until you are truly ready to recover success will be impossible. No one can force you to change your life, changing one's life starts with the individual. On the other side though, every now and then, people who are forced into treatment come to realize that they want more out of their lives. They come to realize that there is a better way to live and it is never to late to change their life.

I will be following Coolio's story to see how residential treatment works out for him. I hope that he can find what so many others have found in drug and alcohol treatment...the will to live!