Aardvark ['ärd-värk]: a very controversial animal
2. Respect the fact that alcoholism is a physical, mental, and spiritual disease with many complexities.
3. Never allow yourself to be ashamed of the alcoholic’s behavior.
4 Never assume the alcoholic’s responsibilities.
5. Never cover up the alcoholic’s misbehavior.
6. Love one another.
If this fails double up on #6.
Author: harold
An alcoholic is a person who has a distorted perspective of the value alcohol has for him/her. This distortion is caused by some unknown disorder. This disorder may have existed before the onset of alcohol use.
Author: harold
I believe that every door in the USA should be knocked down to determine just how much drugs we have on our persons. Since we live in such a free society and we can go to Iraq and set them free too.(sic)
I fault not the nine honorable men & women that made this decision. They had no other choice. The fault is with the politicians in the legislature that make these laws and create the judiciary to enforce these flawed laws
Author: harold
In 1964, some months before the elections, incumbent leaders asked the military to stage an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin, then asked Congress to give the military war time power “to prevent future aggression.” The incumbents feared that the opposition party would tag them as “soft on communism.” 58,000 young Americans proved with their lives that we are not soft on communism.
In 1953, my father (finished the third grade and a tobacco farmer) stated he wished they would stop worrying about those Russians. He thought their economic system would destroy their agriculture incentives. They could not feed an army to cross Honey Run Creek (a stream running through our farm about 6′ wide). He was not asked for his opinion when we started a troop buildup in southeast Asia to stop communism. Thirty-seven years later, I was astonished by my father’s thoughts when the Soviet Empire’s economy collapsed.
The war in Vietnam was started because the military needed a war. I have heard lifetime army soldiers state, “Ain’t much of a war, but it’s all we’ve got.” Anyone more than 30 years old knows the discord this war put our country through. It has not healed yet.
In 1948 at a state governor’s convention, a study was presented about institutionalized mental health care costs. Without much ado, a broad-based policy was adopted to reduce mental health care. Soon thereafter, the drug
companies came to the aid off the mental health care professionals in the form of psychotherapeutic drugs. Today, where do the mentally ill get their drugs?
During the last Reagan administration, Congress passed a law that gave law enforcement agencies broad powers to ensure their new drug policy was carried out. The policy was in short: 1. Interdiction, 2. Education, 3. Treatment.
Interdiction of mood altering substances is more absurd than attempting to keep dirt from every American’s fingernails or putting Humpty Dumpty back together. Our country tried with military power, but gave up (said it was interfering with
national defense). Most police forces spend a major portion of their time devoted to this folly. Even if we could possibly stop the 18 controlled substances, Congress could not possibly keep all of these substances out of the hands of the public: rubbing alcohol, vanilla extract, mouthwash, Nyquil, gasoline vapors, airplane glue, and baked banana peelings, not to mention some products that can be used intravenously, like ice water, mayonnaise, and peanut butter.
Picture in your mind a person living under a tree in Jackson Square, New Orleans. This person belongs to that mass of people that we cannot afford to house in a mental institution. How much thought will he give to the penalties imposed if he buys, sells or steals drugs. I wrote in January 1988, “Laws have been passed to appease the uninformed public that have created a market place of violence. A business that exploits the mentally ill, the poor and uneducated.” These laws today are permitting law enforcement officials to extend over the cutting edge of rights protected under the Constitution, not to mention that we are social treating the mentally ill with hand guns, night sticks, and handcuffs. How much more violence will we accept? Our TVs are filled with it (the real stuff, not the fabricated). The press is focused on violent crime (the body count).
How different is this from counting the body bags of the good guys and the bad guys in the years 1964 to 1973 in southeast Asia? I believe that we have gone further in this war than in Vietnam with less success. Our leaders have drawn swords upon our own people to stop a madness that they promote: violence (Rodney King). This will not cease until we put our swords in their sheaths and redefine criminal activity in a manner that has more universal acceptance and does not make the mentally ill, the poor and uneducated into criminals.
In May ’88, I wrote, “The only person more insane than an alcoholic who continues to drink is the one trying to make him/her stop.” Let me review what has taken place. We slowed the entrance into state mental hospitals. We gave
the mentally ill drugs so they could live in society alone. After 2 generations of allowing the mentally ill to reproduce offspring, we declared the “War on Drugs.” After a bit of time, we made war on a foreign country, arrested its leader, and put him in jail. That sure made USA safe from drugs. Only to com up 4 years later and say, “we need 100,000 troops (police) in the field to keepus safe from Drugs and Crime.” Sounds like 1964 all over again.
The next part of the policy was education. I have been part of this program to keep children off drugs. We know too little about this subject to be telling our children anything. For 400 years, anti-smokers told smokers all the evils of smoking to no avail. When research found the real dangers of smoking, all
began to listen. The dehumanizing anti-drug ads put on TV in the 80’s did more harm than good. I would watch those and weep. Most have been taken off, but not all. I am convinced all educational input should be done in the research lab. When we have some idea about alcohol and drug abuse, then spread the word.
We do know treatment for alcoholism and drug addiction cannot begin until total abstinence is accomplished. Total abstinence will only be accomplished by the decision of the addicted. Outside pressures by family, law officials, and others only confuse the issues. Mostly, they do not deal in straight-forward and honest manner, such as I have described above. The following is my definition of an alcoholic. This may help one understand the fallacy of trying to keep a substance from the addict.
An alcoholic is a person who has a distorted perspective of the value alcohol use has for him/her. This distortion is caused by an unknown disorder. This disorder may have existed before the onset of alcohol use.
The last portion of the definition says the disorder may have begun before the onset of alcohol use. I have no clinical or laboratory evidence to support this assertion, but more than casual interest give credence to this claim. This then destroys the thought that we just might save a child with all the madness. Now I want to address all the pocketbook lawmakers before we go out and repeat 1965 with $22 billion of our tax dollars. I propose the following:
A redefinition of crime would start by saying we will no longer pursue adults that possess mood-altering substances or use them in private quarters. A legitimate business enterprise that wishes to sell these substances to adults and demonstrates the ability to inform the buyer of the side effects and dangers of overdose and long term use of the substance will no longer be engaged in a criminal activity. This removes the need for the interdiction part of the drug policy. The education should be done in the medical and/or academe. Forget about informing them until we know more. Treatment should be performed very economically by medical professionals. However, more could be done in public than in private if the following is observed when dealing with someone using drugs or alcohol:
1. Avoid scorn or ridicule.
2. Respect the fact that alcoholism is
a physical, mental, and spiritual disease
with many complexities.
3. Never allow yourself to be ashamed because of the alcoholic’s behavior
4. Assume none of the alcoholic’s responsibilities.
5. Never cover up the alcoholic’s misbehavior.
6. Love for one another.
7. If it don’t work, double up #6
It’s our choice, “War or Peace.”
Some writing from 12/25/93. Sounds a lot like what we hear today
Author: harold
The government has inserted itself into the roll as praent. We are trying to make the parent insignificant. One another subject on this forum I posted a cartoon by Signe Wilkinson the link I thought gave a pretty good picture of what is going on with government and parenting.
This forum is about drugs, not parenting, so I will stick to that subject, drug laws as it relates to parenting. Most parents are duped into thinking the drug laws protect their children from the perceived evils of drugs when nothing could be nothing further from the truth. It is just more expense and easier for the child to obtain. (No ID requested). If the parents have succeeded in keeping the child from drug until he goes to college, some children start experimenting there and learn how they have been lied to, then they are off to the races. When the law enforcement intervenes, then parental pride comes to the home front. Here is where the laws do a great damage.
Some parents think the laws are full of sh*t and and give their children drugs. Here we get a great disrespect for all laws. More damage the drugs laws create.
Now we get to the parent of the addict. It does not matter if the parent or child come from Yale or Harvard or a tobacco farm in KY, as I. The most likely path followed is this, addict in and out of jails, treatment centers, and continual binges, while the parents pay fines, lawyers, treatments centers fees. There may be siblings and they become angry at the addict and parent both causing hatred in the family. The saddest of all is the 70 year old mother tending to a 50 year old as if he were 12 years old. Some call this “enabling”. I think it is very complicated relationships and we never will find an answer in the research labs and for sure not on the law books. Remember we have 500,000 in prison, who knows under house arrest, and/or on bail.
Often the addict marries, has children and the child becomes the parent.
Author: harold
5/21/1990
Much is being said about efforts to educated our youth on the perils of drug use. My heart goes out to those trying to carry this message. All to often, we attempt to present a certain thought about these highly emotional issues and we find our message was received completely devoid of what we are trying to say.
A perfect example of this is a story I was told in school down in central Kentucky. It seems that a young lad had put some of his father’s moonshine in a small bottle, hid it in his trousers, and went off to school. As his history class was making an in-depth analysis of the 18th amendment, he was sipping on his father’s shine. Midway through the class the very astute teacher caught the lad nipping, took the bottle, ascertained its contents and changed her lesson plan.
She sent the fastest boy in the class to get 2 fishing worms while she brought out 2 pint Mason jars. She filled one jar with water, the other with the shine. Then, she placed one worm in the water jar, the other worm in the shine. A short time later the worm in the shine had died, while the one in the water looked as if it was taking a sun bath. The teacher said, “Now do you know what will happen to you if you drink this stuff?” The young lad replied swiftly, “If I drink Pa’s shine I won’t get worms.”
Afterthought:
In the early 60s a hospital was built in Lexington, KY. They took in indigent clients. 50% were treated for worms.
Author: harold
The following snippet is the method for getting a good start on a, “Drug War”
The Bureau of National Affairs will celebrate its new publication, “Drug Free Workplace”, by serving champagne and high tea at a book signing party………….
As reported by: Wall Street Journal – January 26, 1988
Author: harold
From the Text
He said they routinely took shortcuts around the law to get warrants in order to make arrest quotas.
Defense lawyer William McKenney argued that the real culprits were Tesler’s more experienced partners, Junnier and Smith, who had faced murder charges and have pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
“This is a tragedy, that is certain,” McKenney said.
“One tragedy happened by mistake…. Don’t ruin this officer, don’t ruin his family.
“I think what we have to consider is what this unit was all about before Arthur Tesler got there.”
McKenney reminded jurors of testimony that described rampant lying for warrants in the narcotics unit, where drugs were planted in residences when raids didn’t turn up any and on suspects to extort information. He noted that the entire culture of the police department encouraged the lying by setting near impossible quotas that officers had to meet for drugs or search warrants.
Is anybody paying attention, This is happening more places than Fulton County Georgia
WHY THE QUOTAS Somebody please explain
Author: harold
Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake”
Nancy Reagan said, “Just say no”
Weirdharold says:
My personal opinion is that these statements show depraved indifference of suffering people. I was not around when the French Queen made her statement, but I was when the president’s wife came on stage with hers. To state,”Just say no drugs”, to an alcoholic/drug addict is like saying to the homeless, “Just buy a house”.
Oh, I know you are saying she may have prevented some youngster from dipping into a life of mood altering drugs. Education or role models did not do much for me, and I think it was applied in the the most loving caring manner that any parent could.
Jesus Christ said, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”
Now, believe Nancy Reagan if you must, but remember whose teachings you are choosing to ignore.
Author: harold
Today we hear much about war, Afghanistan and Iraq. The politicians talk about winning and losing. To me winning a war is imposing our will upon others. Any win will only be an appearance our political representatives tell us. I would like to talk about another war. The war on drugs is fact it is a war on our sickest, individuals in this nation. All we are doing is imposing our will upon these people. When they do not respond we punish them more and more. The politicians and media do not separate criminal behavior from behavior of the ill. They focus their attention upon on the unscrupulous entrepreneurs providing the substances to wants of the suffering.
We often missed the intended message such as Genesis 9, 20-29. The directive here is abuse of alcohol/drug will destroy family relationships even within a clan of faithful. Then we can go to the other extreme where politicians play upon our fears and prejudices both religious and secular. Here is one of the best I have found:
“There are 100,000 marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”
– Harry Anslinger, 1937
I say, “Yes, shop lifting is criminal activity whether the individual steals diapers or drugs.” Shoplifting must be addressed. Also I say, “There is no domestic tranquility in allowing unscrupulous entrepreneurs to manufacture meth in the back woods of Lee County for the purpose to sell to anyone that has the money to purchase, including our youth. However I do not have any trouble letting Merck Drugs manufacture the same under the supervision of the FDA and allowing to be sold to adults after qualified medical persons have informed them of the dangers. This would definitely result in less loss of live than Vioxx. I am well aware that a very small minority agrees with me. If only we could agree we cannot save individuals form addiction, no more than we can save many from Alzheimers. Our lives would become so much simpler. The enforcement of non-crimes would decrease, as would the need for prisons. The need for mandatory sentences would end. Building more prisons to address crimes is like building more graveyards to address a fatal disease.
The drugs user would have to accept the responsibility for his actions, not his addiction. We put addict in prison for non-violent crimes that confuses the addict and keeps him from the real attention he needs to address his sickness.
Author: harold