DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DIFFERENT?
This is A.A. General Service Conference-approved literatureCopyright © 1976 by A.A. World Services, Inc.All Right Reserved
MANY OF US THOUGHT WE WERE SPECIAL
"A.A. won't work for me. I'm too far gone." "It's nice for those people, but I'm president of the P.T.A." I'm too old. Too young. Not religious enough. I'm gay. Or Jewish. A professional person. A member of the clergy. Too smart. Or too uneducated.
At this moment, people all over the world are thinking that A.A. probably won't work in their case for one or several of these reasons. Perhaps you are one of these people.
We in A.A. believe alcoholism is a disease that is no respecter of age, sex, creed, race, wealth, occupation, or education. It strikes at random. Our experience seems to show that anyone can be an alcoholic. And, beyond question, anyone who wants to stop drinking is welcome in A.A.
Our co-founder Bill W., in telling about A.A.'s earliest days, wrote:
"In the beginning, it was four whole years before A.A. brought permanent sobriety to even one alcoholic woman. Like the `high bottoms,' the women said they were different; A.A. couldn't be for them. But as the communication was perfected, mostly by the women themselves, the picture changed.
"This process of identification and transmission has gone on and on. The skid-rower said he was different. Even more loudly, the socialite (or Park Avenue stumblebum) said the same. So did the artists and the professional people, the rich, the poor, the religious, the agnostic, the Indians and the Eskimos, the veterans and the prisoners.
"But nowadays all of these, and legions more, soberly talk about how very much alike all of us alcoholics are when we admit that the chips are finally down.
"In the stories that follow, you may encounter men and women whose race, age, sexual preference, or any number of other conditions are similar to yours. They came to A.A. and found that Alcoholics Anonymous worked just as well for them as it had for hundreds of thousands of others of us who thought we were "different." We found help, and we found friends with whom we could identify and share our experiences.
We are no longer alone.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
Copyright © by The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.;reprinted with permission
My name is Gloria (black) My name is Louis (79 years old) My name is Padric (gay) My name is Ed (atheist) My name is Paul (Native American) My name is Diane (15 years old) My name is Michael (clergy) My name is Mary (lesbian) My name is George (Jewish) My name is famous (movie star) My name is Phil (“low bottom”) My name is Jim (“high bottom”) My name is Jan (agnostic) Now we are all special together The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous

Intervention Information

Here is a website that focuses on Intervention.

http://www.innervention.com/

New Medicine to help treat Opioid Dependence

About SUBOXONE
SUBOXONE is the first opioid medication approved under DATA 2000 for the treatment of opioid dependence in an office-based setting. SUBOXONE also can be dispensed for take-home use, just as any other medicine for other medical conditions.
The primary active ingredient in SUBOXONE is buprenorphine.
Because buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist, its opioid effects are limited compared with those produced by full opioid agonists, such as oxycodone or heroin. SUBOXONE also contains naloxone, an opioid antagonist.
The naloxone in SUBOXONE is there to discourage people from dissolving the tablet and injecting it. When SUBOXONE is placed under the tongue, as directed, very little naloxone reaches the bloodstream, so what the patient feels are the effects of the buprenorphine. However, if naloxone is injected, it can cause that person to quickly go into withdrawal.SUBOXONE at the appropriate dose may be used to:
Suppress symptoms of opioid withdrawal
Decrease cravings for opioids
Reduce illicit opioid use
Block the effects of other opioids
Help patients stay in treatment
http://www.suboxone.com/

Understanding Opioid Dependence
More and more, opioid dependence is being accepted as a chronic disease, much like high blood pressure or diabetes.
Yet unlike these other diseases, opioid dependence carries a very powerful stigma. (To illustrate: Imagine that you are interviewing for a new job. Would you think twice before asking whether the company's health plan covers costs related to your insulin dependence? Would you also not hesitate to ask about coverage of costs related to your opioid dependence?)
This stigma is rooted in the centuries-old belief that opioid dependence is a moral failure. It was only within the last 20 years that researchers began to realize opioid dependence was a medical condition caused by changes in the brain—changes that didn't go away, sometimes for months, after patients stopped using opioids.
Today, opioid dependence in the United States is growing at unprecedented rates. Sadly, fear of the stigma associated with treatment keeps many people from seeking help.
Removing the stigma of opioid dependence is critical to helping patients receive proper care. A key part of achieving this goal is wider recognition that opioid dependence is a medical—not a moral—issue.
The information here is offered to help promote better understanding of opioid dependence as a medical condition by exploring the prevalence, biological origins, impact on behavior, and symptoms of this disease.

Light A Candle

This is a hopeful sight....hope is good, especially in times of darkness.

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/enter.cfm

Where did Methadone come from?

Where did methadone come from?
Methadone Hydrochloride is an opioid (a synthetic opiate) that was originally synthesised by German pharmaceutical companies during the Second World War.
It was first marketed as 'Dolophine' (possibly to honor Adolph Hitler) and was used as an analgesic (a painkiller) for the treatment of severe pain. It is still occasionally used for pain relief.
Methadone is now primarily used today for the treatment of narcotic addiction. The effects of methadone are longer-lasting than those of morphine-based drugs. Methadone's effects can last up to 24 hours, thereby permitting administration only once a day in heroin detoxification and maintenance programs.

A Poem For My Dad

Can I get a witness?
Dec. 20th 2005
Charlotte Reeves Bowman

So you need a witness?
Heaven’s horns blowing,
hell’s dogs howling,
the winds of purgatory have given up on your resurrection.

The bread is broken,
the blood all spilt.
Nothing left but caskets-or ashes
and never-ending needs.
Has it all come to this?
No home,
no hope,
no clean clothes…
just another wayward soul looking haunted and old.

You have left some accidental good pieces of yourself somewhere….
Maybe your grandson will get you wit,
or your granddaughter will have your big heart.

So you want a witness?
To what I ask?
Your surrender?
Your last swig of self destruction?
I’m afraid I’m only available for the living,
there are no vacancies in this haunted house.
All my haints are well feed and have no need to roam.

So I will be your witness….
when you are ready to put an end to your living death.
I will throw your homecoming party
one where we dance, laugh
and try to heal thirty five years worth of wounds.

Until then my sweet dear father….I wait for good news.

Hitler was a Tweaker....among other things..

Substances given to Hitler
Morell kept a medical diary of the drugs, tonics, vitamins and other substances he administered to Hitler, usually by either injection or in pill form. Most were commercial preparations, some were his own. Since some of these compounds are considered toxic, many historians have speculated Morell may have accidentally contributed to Hitler's poor health. This fragmentary list of representative ingredients would have seemed somewhat less shocking during the 1940s:
Potassium bromide
Nux Vomica (a form of strychnine)
Atropine
Sodium barbitone
Oxedrine Tartrate
Chamomile
Testosterone
Prophenazone
Caffiene
Belladonna
E. coli
Dihydroxycodeine
Sulphonamide
Cocaine (via eye drops)
Enzymes
Vitamins
Amphetamines
Methamphetamines
Proteins and lipids derived from animal tissues and fats
Morell apparently never told Hitler (or anyone else) what he was administering, other than to say the preparations contained various vitamins and "natural" ingredients. Some ingredients were later confirmed by doctors who had been shown pills by Hitler while temporarily treating him. A few of the preparations (such as Glyconorm, a tonic popular in Switzerland for fighting infections) contained rendered forms of animal tissues such as placenta, cardiac muscle, liver and bull testicles. During his interrogation after the war, Morell claimed another doctor had prescribed cocaine to Hitler and at least one other doctor is known to have administered it through eyedrops after he requested it in the hours following an almost successful assassination attempt on July 20, 1944. Cocaine was routinely used for medical purposes in Germany during that time but Morell is said to have increased the dosage ten-fold. Overuse of cocaine eyedrops has been associated with psychotic behavior, hypertension and other symptoms but historians have generally tended to discount any effects of Morell's treatments on Hitler's decision-making.
Morell was subject to many accusations by members of Hitler's inner circle. Several people claimed he regularly injected Hitler with morphine without telling him and that Morell himself was a morphine addict. Some went so far as to claim Morell used Hitler as a "guinea pig" for several of the drugs he tried to develop and sell but these latter claims were made by people without medical backgrounds and may not be reliable.

Trivia
The song "Gramme Friday" by The Fall mentions Morell in the context of amphetamine abuse:
Hitler lost his nerve on it.
Dr. Morel prescribed it well

See also
Adolf Hitler's medical health

Further reading
Doyle, D. (2005). Hitler's Medical Care. PDF File Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
Morell, Dr. T. et al. (1983). Adolf Hitler : The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. PDF File Focal Point Publications. ISBN 0283989815
O'Donnell, J. (1978). The Bunker. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306809583
Snyder, L. Hitler's Elite. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 087052738X
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Morell"
Categories: Nazi leaders 1948 deaths Adolf Hitler

Needle exchange

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/closetohome/policy/html/needle.html
The Debate Over Needle Exchange
There are few public health issues as politically charged as the debate over whether the federal government should fund programs that provide clean needles to drug addicts to help prevent the spread of HIV. Clean needle exchange programs fall under the category of harm reduction policy -- a concept in which public policy aims to lessen the health and social consequences of drug use, particularly the transmission of HIV. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control & Prevention estimate that 90 percent of new AIDS cases in women and 93 percent of new cases in children are due to or linked to injecting drugs. Overall, three-quarters of new AIDS cases are attributable to intravenous drug use.
Experts argue that harm reduction policies decrease the negative consequences of drug use as well as act as a bridge to treatment and general medical care. (The general health status of heroin addicts is usually worse than that of non-addicts, but the former do not routinely seek out medical services. Instead, they land in expensive emergency rooms, often after their condition has greatly deteriorated. Needle exchange and other harm reduction programs can point them to needed care earlier.)
Needle exchange programs have been recommended as a cost-effective way of reaching drug users, but the federal government has maintained a ban on funding such programs since 1988. Today, some 100 communities around the U.S., including New Haven, Connecticut, and Tacoma, Washington, are using their own funds to support needle exchange programs designed to curb the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users.
Support for these programs varies. Residents in some communities where needle exchange programs exist say it has tainted the neighborhoods. Nancy Sausman has been trying to shut down the needle exchange program in her Lower East Side New York City neighborhood since 1994. Sausman says needle exchange projects do not promote public health and turn communities into havens for drug addicts. She says she and her neighbors have found used needles littered in the neighborhood and seen people shooting up on the street. These programs "are distribution centers for needles and drug paraphernalia," she says. "They have nothing to do with health and only work to bring down communities." Others argue that needle exchange programs produce more drug use and increase drug-related deaths. James Curtis, MD, director of psychiatry and addiction services for Harlem Hospital Center in New York, is firmly opposed to needle exchange. "Addicts need to be treated. . . . They should not be given needles and encouraged to continue their addiction," he says. Critics note that in 1986, the Swiss began experimenting with needle exchange programs. By 1988, Zurich's Platzpitz Park became a center for free needle distribution. But the city became a haven for foreign addicts and the number of needles exchanged each day grew four-fold from 3,000 to 12,000 per day before the park was closed in 1992.
Needle exchange programs often do other "harm reduction," such as distributing condoms to IV drug users to help prevent the spread of AIDS.
But others say the programs save lives. The American Medical Association, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Institute of Medicine, among others, have come out in their favor. Winnie Fairchild, a resident of Washington, D.C., says having access to a clean needle exchange program would have made the difference between life and death for her. Fairchild, a former heroin addict who is HIV positive, says she would not be infected with the AIDS virus if she had used clean needles. "Had this needle exchange program been around when I was a drug user, I would not be a client at this [HIV] clinic."
Despite scores of studies from a variety of private and government agencies that have shown that clean needle programs curb the spread of HIV and do not boost drug use, the debate over their utility is likely to rage on. Congress last year specifically barred the federal government from lifting the ban on federal funding of needle exchange programs until March 1998.
--Janet Firshein

What is Addiction?

An Addiction Science Network Resource
A Primer on Drug Addiction
What is drug addiction? Considerable confusion exists regarding the nature of addiction. The most common misunderstanding is that addiction refers to a state of physical dependence on a drug whereby discontinuing drug intake produces a withdrawal syndrome consisting of various somatic disturbances. Addiction is better defined as a behavioral syndrome where drug procurement and use seem to dominate the individual’s motivation and where the normal constraints on behavior are largely ineffective. This condition may or may not be accompanied by the development of physical dependence on the drug. This condition has also been described as a "psychological" addiction (thus distinguishing it from physical dependence archaically termed "physical" addiction), but confusion is minimized by using the term addiction to refer to the behavioral syndrome described above and the term physical dependence to refer to the condition associated with somatic withdrawal reactions. The distinguishing feature of the condition commonly referred to as addiction is the ability of the drug to dominate the individual’s behavior, regardless of whether physical dependence is also produced by the drug.
Learn more about the Nature of Drug Addiction

What causes drug addiction? Many factors influence a person’s initial drug use. Personality characteristics, peer pressure, and psychological stress can all contribute to the early stage of drug abuse. These factors are less important as drug use continues and the person repeatedly experiences the potent pharmacological effects of the drug. This chemical action, which stimulates certain brain systems, produces the addiction, while other psychological and social factors become less and less important in influencing the individual’s behavior. When the pharmacological action of a drug dominates the individual’s behavior and the normal psychological and social control of behavior is no longer effective, the addiction is fully developed. This self-perceived "loss of control" is a common feature of drug addiction and reflects the biological nature of the problem.
Learn more about the Biological Basis of Addiction

How is drug addiction related to "normal" behavior? Specialized brain systems have evolved to ensure survival of the species. These systems direct behavior by rewarding actions that promote survival of the individual and of the species. Intake of nutrients and procreation are governed by specific brain systems; for example, the interaction of various substances in foods (e.g., sugars, fats) activate taste receptors which in turn activate brain reward mechanisms. Activation of brain reward systems produces changes in affect ranging from slight mood elevation to intense pleasure and euphoria, and these psychological states help direct behavior toward natural rewards. Some chemicals activate brain reward systems directly, bypassing the sensory receptors mediating natural rewards. The caffeine from coffee and tea, the alcohol from fermented beverages, and the nicotine from tobacco all activate brain reward mechanisms directly. Moderate use of these substances has gained widespread acceptance over the centuries, although their use has been periodically prohibited (e.g., alcohol during prohibition) or restricted (e.g., cigarette smoking currently). Other drugs much more potently activate brain reward systems. Initial use of these substances is usually accompanied by mood elevation and other affective changes that lead to their recreational use. (Some drugs have actions that produce other desirable psychological effects, such as relaxation.) Much like moderate caffeine and alcohol use, addictive drugs activate brain reward systems. But the activation is much more intense causing the individual to crave the drug and to focus their activities around taking the drug. The ability of addictive drugs to strongly activate brain reward mechanisms and their ability to chemically alter the normal functioning of these systems can produce an addiction.
Learn more about Brain Reward Systems

What are psychoactive drugs? Many drugs interact with brain mechanisms involved in affect, cognition, and behavior. These compounds are termed psychoactive drugs. Drugs are usually classified according to their primary therapeutic actions. Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat schizophrenia and produce a normalization of the disordered thought processes associated with this illness. Antidepressant drugs are used to treat psychological depression and produce a normalization of disturbed affective states characteristic of depression. And antianxiety drugs (i.e., anxiolytics) are used to treat anxiety and produce a calming action in nervous individuals. These and numerous other drugs have important clinical uses and have revolutionized the treatment of many mild to severe mental disorders. Some work at the ASnet and its laboratory facility—the Addiction Research Unit (ARU) at the University at Buffalo—investigates the actions of these drugs, but research focuses on psychoactive drugs that are addictive. Recent work has also investigated the effects of mildly psychoactive compounds found in over-the-counter medicines (e.g., pseudoephedrine, diphenhydramine) and compares their effects with prototypic addictive drugs (e.g., cocaine, heroin). This comparison helps sharpen the distinction between addictive and nonaddictive substance use and is used in comparing the effects of other commonly used substances (i.e., caffeine, nicotine).
Learn more about Drug Classification

Why conduct basic scientific research? Although the basic biological actions of some drugs are well understood, many important questions remain to be answered. Why do individuals differ in their vulnerability to addiction? How do psychological factors such as stress interact with brain mechanisms to influence the development of an addiction? And why are some people successful in overcoming their addiction while others are not? (Certainly differences in treatment approaches do not account for the successes, because no single treatment program has a uniquely high success rate.) These and many other questions need to be answered. Considerable progress has been made during the past two decades, but considerable more work needs to be done before drug addiction is fully understood. And understanding addiction is the key to successful treatment.
What is the most effective approach to conducting basic research in drug addiction? Two important considerations direct research at ASnet into basic mechanisms of drug addiction. First, research focuses on prototypic addiction drugs. These are drugs with a high addiction liability (i.e., addiction develops quickly and in a high percentage of individuals after relatively brief use). Prototypic addictive drugs also have well-defined actions on biological systems (i.e., interact with specific brain systems) and have historically shown epidemic patterns of abuse (i.e., abuse patterns showing rapid increases in the number of people using the drug during the past century often followed by a marked decline in use; a cyclic pattern of abuse). The two drug classes that clearly fit these criteria for prototypic addictive drugs are the psychomotor stimulants (e.g., amphetamine, cocaine, methamphetamine) and the opiates (e.g., heroin, morphine). Second, animal models are used to study the underlying biological mechanisms of addiction. Laboratory animals voluntarily self-administer these prototypic addictive drugs, and basic research in drug addiction uses animal models to study the biological mechanisms underlying addiction. (Contrary to popular belief, laboratory animals exposed to addictive drugs usually remain healthy and suffer no adverse effects of these drugs [i.e., low morbidity]. The only experiments where research animals are subjected to any appreciable discomfort involve those studying the effects of psychological stress or continuous exposure to drugs. Few experiments are conducted at the ARU investigating these experimental conditions, and all studies are conducted with laboratory rats.) As basic research studying prototypic addictive drugs in animal models progresses, the principles learned with this approach are extended to other addictive drugs (e.g., alcohol) and to clinical studies (e.g., the treatment of drug addicts).
Learn more about the Experimental Methods used to study drug addiction

Are there other benefits from studying addiction? Understanding the underlying neural basis of addiction opens the door to not only treating specific drug addictions but to also understanding fundamental relationships between behavior and brain function. Addiction presents a situation where chemical activation of brain mechanisms control the individual's behavior, and understanding this process helps delineate processes involved in normal behavior. In addition, several mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression, involve disturbances in the same brain system as that involved in addiction. Basic research provides the key to deciphering the biological basis of addiction and to understanding other types of psychopathology.

Why develop medications for treating addiction? Drug addiction involves disturbances in brain chemistry caused by repeated use of certain psychoactive substances. Although the exact nature of these disturbances is not well understood (and hence, the need for continued basic research), the biological nature of this problem is appreciated by most specialists. Psychological counseling and therapy can help the individual recovering from addiction, but the main problem lies with altered brain chemistry that needs to be treated pharmacologically. A number of medications are currently being investigated in various laboratories, but none are yet very effective. Basic research studying prototypic addictive drugs in animal models can identify the neural mechanisms underlying addiction. This information can then direct the development of medications for the treatment of addiction. These medications are evaluated for their safety and effectiveness using animal models before being prescribed clinically to treat addiction. (This last step is particularly important, considering that heroin was originally developed as a treatment for morphine addiction.)

What's wrong with the current sources of information regarding addiction? A number of agencies and organizations disseminate information about drug addiction (for examples, see the Links on the ARU home page). Most notably, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has been the premier clearing house for information on drug abuse. Many excellent research monographs, pamphlets, and press releases are sponsored by NIDA, but this government organization must also respond to the political realities of all government organizations. When marijuana use in the late 1940s became a national concern, the government was involved in producing a film entitled Reefer Madness to "educate" the public about the dangers of marijuana use. This film remains a classic today, but not as a testimony to unbiased presentation of scientific evidence; rather; this film exemplifies the propaganda expounded by a politically directed organization and has fostered the distrust that many young people have of government information. More recently, NIDA diverted attention from cocaine and heroin addiction when the Surgeon General declared "nicotine more addictive than cocaine." Although this assertion seems to have been quietly accepted by many scientists, the ASnet considers this statement unsubstantiated by the empirical data and socially irresponsible. Dissident opinion has been silenced by the feared repercussions of challenging official government policy. Other, nongovernment organizations providing information regarding drug abuse also have hidden agendas. Most are linked with treatment centers, pharmaceutical firms selling a product, or supported by government grants and contracts. Much of the information disseminated from these sources is accurate, but some of it is not. Although the ASnet is in principle opposed to any illicit substance use, it follows the dictum that unbiased scientific information should be provided to the public. It is the responsibility of science to provide the facts of the individual to decide how to use those facts.

Serenity Prayer (Full Text)

The Serenity Prayer
GOD, grant me the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Courage to change the
things I can, and the
wisdom to know the difference.
Living ONE DAY AT A TIME;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next. Amen
Reinhold Neibuhr-1926

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE

INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE in the new millennium from the Dalai Lama:
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk. 2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson. 3. Follow the three Rs:
a. Respect for self b. Respect for others c. Responsibility for your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. 5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly. 6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship. 7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. 8. Spend some time alone every day. 9. Open your arms to change but don't let go of your values. 10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. 11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time. 12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life. 13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past. 14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality. 15. Be gentle with the earth. 16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before. 17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other. 18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. 19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Our Deepest Fear...

Our deepest fear is not...
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people will not feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not in just some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.


Marianne Williamson , in Return to Love
(often mis-attributed to Nelson Mandela who, contrary to internet legend,
did not use the quote in his inaugural address.)

How Harmful Is Smoking?

• 10% of smokers die before age 55, compared to only 4% of non-smokers.
• 28% of smokers die before the age 65, compared to 11% of non smokers.
• 57% of smokers die before the age of 75, compared to 30% of non smokers.
  
• 30-50% of all smokers will die from smoking. That person will lose and average of 24 years of life. One in three are very high odds!
• Your odds of dying in a traffic accident are 1 in 50!
• Your odds of being murdered are 1 in 100!

Smoking kills over 400,000 Americans every year. That's more people than are killed by alcohol, cocaine, heroin, murder, suicide, car accidents, fires, and AIDS COMBINED! What if three jets crashed head-on, killing all on board. That would be a tragic event. But that's how many people die from smoking in this country everyday!

Addiction and its brain science Rainer Spanagel1 & Markus Heilig2

Addiction can best be defined as a behavioral syndrome, characterized by compulsive drug seeking with repeated relapses into drug use. Addictive behavior may even recur after many years of abstinence in spite of obviously disastrous consequences for the individual, including his death. Other phenomena, such as physical dependence and withdrawal, have to be strictly separated from addictive behavior as an individual can be physically dependent on a drug without being addicted to it and vice versa. In fact, transient and demonstrably reversible adaptive processes within the central nervous system (CNS) and other physiological systems underlie physical dependence and tolerance to a drug. Also, addicted patients do not typically relapse while in a state of withdrawal. Instead, most relapse events occur when withdrawal symptoms have long dissipated. Clearly, more persistent, perhaps irreversible changes within specific neuronal systems must bring about addictive behavior. Among these neuronal systems, the last two decades have seen a tremendous focus on those which mediate positive drug reinforcement as the underpinnings of addiction. One of the major findings to have been observed is that the mesolimbic dopamine system constitutes the core brain reinforcement system, which highlights and predicts important environmental stimuli. Indeed, blockers of the dopamine system induce a 'lock-in situation' in humans, in which relevant environmental stimuli are no longer salient to the organism. Also, drug stimuli and conditioned stimuli that become associated to drug-taking behavior beget their salience to the organism through the mesolimbic dopamine system (Spanagel & Weiss 1999). Further, studies on the interaction of drugs of abuse and the mesolimbic dopamine system have additionally furnished a major hypothesis in the neurobiology of addiction, suggesting that irreversible synaptic alterations on the molecular and/or structural level (i.e. persistent drug-induced synaptic plasticity within the dopaminergic reinforcement system) may underlie addictive behavior. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.01260.x

Nicotine Addiction

Quit to Live: How and Why to Quit Smoking Today
Throughout the month of November, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and North American Quit Line Consortium, ABC World News Tonight is featuring an unprecedented month-long series about the dangers of smoking, smoking cessation, and lung cancer research and prevention, called Quit to Live. You can access the Quit to Live Web site at http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/QuitToLive/.*
Quitting Information Health Consequences of Smoking Lung Cancer, Smoking, and Secondhand Smoke You can Quit Smoking Five Keys for Quitting Smoking Special Situations or Conditions Questions to Think About

Quit Resources The following pages provide links on how to quit:
•
www.Smokefree.gov Offers free materials, information, and support that have been effective in helping smokers quit.
•
How to quit
•
Tobacco Cessation – You can quit smoking now! The latest drugs and counseling techniques for treating tobacco use and dependence.
•
Questions and Answers About Quitting Smoking –National Cancer Institute
Quitting Information
In 2004, 44.5 million adults (20.9 percent) in the United States were current smokers—23.4 percent of men and 18.5 percent of women. An estimated 70 percent of these smokers said they wanted to quit.
An estimated 14.6 million (40.5 percent) adult everyday smokers in 2004 had stopped smoking for at least 1 day during the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit.
An estimated 45.6 million adults were former smokers in 2004, representing 50.6 percent of those who had ever smoked.
For more information:Cigarette Smoking Among Adults — United States, 2003
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Health Consequences of Smoking — Major Conclusions of the 2004 Surgeon General Report
Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.
Quitting smoking has immediate as well as long–term benefits, reducing risks for diseases caused by smoking and improving health in general.
Smoking cigarettes with lower machine-measured yields of tar and nicotine provides no clear benefit to health.
The list of diseases caused by smoking has been expanded to include abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, pneumonia, periodontitis, and stomach cancer. These are in addition to diseases previously known to be caused by smoking, including bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, and throat cancers, chronic lung diseases, coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases, as well as reproductive effects and sudden infant death syndrome.
For more information see:The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General
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Lung Cancer, Smoking, and Secondhand Smoke
Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. In fact, smoking tobacco is the major risk factor for lung cancer. In the United States, about 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80 percent of lung cancer deaths in women are due to smoking. People who smoke are 10 to 20 times more likely to get lung cancer or die from lung cancer than people who do not smoke. The longer a person smokes and the more cigarettes smoked each day increases a person's risk for developing lung cancer.
People who quit smoking have a lower risk of lung cancer than if they had continued to smoke, but their risk is higher than people who never smoked.
Smoke from other people's cigarettes, known as secondhand smoke, causes lung cancer as well. There are more than 4,000 chemicals in secondhand smoke. More than 50 of these chemicals cause cancer in people or animals. Every year, about 3,000 nonsmokers die from lung cancer due to secondhand smoke.
For more information visit:Lung Cancer Risk Factors
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You Can Quit Smoking
If you have tried to quit smoking, you know how hard it can be.
Nicotine is a very addictive drug, and usually people make two or three tries, or more, before they successfully quit.
Each time you try to quit, you can learn what works for you and what situations are problematic.
Using proven cessation treatments can double your chance of success.
For more information visit:www.smokefree.gov or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW for assistance in quitting.
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Five Keys for Quitting Smoking
Studies have shown that these five steps will help you quit and quit for good. You have the best chances of quitting if you use them together.
Get Ready
Get Support
Learn new skills and behaviors
Get medication and use it correctly.
Be prepared for relapse or difficult situations.
1. Get Ready
Set a quit date.
Change your environment.
Get rid of ALL cigarettes and ashtrays in your home, car, and place of work.
Don't let people smoke around you.
Review your past attempts to quit. Think about what worked and what did not.
Once you quit, don't smoke—NOT EVEN A PUFF!
2. Get Support and Encouragement
Studies have shown that you have a better chance of being successful if you have help. You can get support in many ways —
Tell your family, friends, and co-workers that you are going to quit and want their support. Ask them not to smoke around you or leave cigarettes out where you can see them.
Talk to your health care provider (e.g., doctor, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, psychologist, or smoking cessation coach or counselor).
Get individual, group, or telephone counseling. Counseling doubles your chances of success.
The more help you have, the better your chances are of quitting. Programs are available at local hospitals and health centers free. Call your local health department for information about programs in your area.
Telephone counseling is available at 1–800–QUIT–NOW.
3. Learn New Skills and Behaviors
Try to distract yourself from urges to smoke. Talk to someone, go for a walk, or get busy with a task.
When you first try to quit, change your routine. Use a different route to work. Drink tea instead of coffee. Eat breakfast in a different place.
Do something to reduce your stress. Take a hot bath, exercise, or read a book.
Plan something enjoyable to do every day.
Drink a lot of water and other fluids.
4. Get Medication and Use It Correctly
Medications can help you stop smoking and lessen the urge to smoke.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved six medications to help you quit smoking:
Bupropion SR—Available by prescription.
Nicotine gum—Available over–the–counter.
Nicotine inhaler—Available by prescription.
Nicotine nasal spray—Available by prescription.
Nicotine patch—Available by prescription and over-the-counter.
Nicotine lozenge—Available over–the–counter.
Ask your health care provider for advice and carefully read the information on the package.
All of these medications will double your chances of quitting and quitting for good.
Nearly everyone who is trying to quit can benefit from using a medication. However, if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, nursing, under age 18, smoking fewer than 10 cigarettes per day, or have a medical condition, talk to your doctor or other health care provider before taking medications.
5. Be Prepared for Relapse or Difficult Situations
Most relapses occur within the first three months after quitting. Don't be discouraged if you start smoking again. Remember, most people try several times before they finally quit. The following are some difficult situations you may encounter:
Alcohol. Avoid drinking alcohol. Drinking lowers your chances of success.
Other Smokers. Being around smoking can make you want to smoke.
Weight Gain. Many smokers will gain some weight when they quit, usually less than 10 pounds. Eat a healthy diet and stay active. Don't let weight gain distract you from your main goal—quitting smoking. Some quit-smoking medications may help delay weight gain.
Bad Mood or Depression. There are a lot of ways to improve your mood other than smoking. Some quit-smoking medications also lessen depression.
If you are having problems with any of these situations, talk to your doctor or other health care provider.
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Special Situations or Conditions
Studies suggest that everyone can quit smoking. Your situation or condition can give you a special reason to quit.
Pregnant women/new mothers. By quitting, you protect your baby's health and your own.
Hospitalized patients. By quitting, you reduce health problems and help healing.
Heart attack patients. By quitting, you reduce your risk of a second heart attack.
Lung, head, and neck cancer patients. By quitting, you reduce your chance of a second cancer.
Parents of children and adolescents. By quitting, you protect your children and adolescents from illnesses caused by secondhand smoke.
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Questions to Think About
Think about the following questions before you try to stop smoking. You may want to talk about your answers with your health care provider.
Why do you want to quit?
When you tried to quit in the past, what helped and what didn't?
What will be the most difficult situations for you after you quit? How will you plan to handle them?
Who can help you through the tough times? Your family? Friends? Health care provider?
What pleasures do you get from smoking? What ways can you still get pleasure if you quit?
Here are some questions to ask your health care provider.
How can you help me to be successful at quitting?
What medication do you think would be best for me and how should I take it?
What should I do if I need more help?
What is smoking withdrawal like? How can I get information on withdrawal?
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AA Link

About A.A.Alcoholics Anonymous® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
Copyright © by The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org/

A.A. Fact Sheet

A.A. Fact Sheet
The Preamble of Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.


Copyright by The A.A. Grapevine, Inc.; reprinted with permission


What A.A. Does
Nonalcoholic guests are welcome at “open” A.A. meetings. Attendance at “closed” meetings is limited to those who are alcoholic or think they may have a drinking problem.
At meetings A.A. members share their recovery experience with anyone seeking help with a drinking problem, and give person-to-person services or “sponsorship” to the alcoholics coming to A.A.
The A.A. program, as set forth in the Twelve Steps to recovery, offers the alcoholic an opportunity to develop a satisfying way of life free from alcohol.


What A.A. Does NOT Do
1. Make medical or psychiatric diagnoses or prognoses, or offer advice.
2. Provide drying-out or nursing services, hospitalization, drugs, housing, jobs, money or other welfare services.
3. Accept any money for its services or contributions from outside sources.
4. Provide letters of reference to parole boards, lawyers, court officials, social agencies, employers, etc.
5. Engage in or support education, research, or professional treatment.


Our recovery is based on sharing our experience, strength and hope with each other, that we may solve our common problem; more importantly, our continued sobriety depends upon helping others to recover from alcoholism.


Rev.1/14/03

Random thoughts about Addiction by C. Bowman

All my life it has been there....Insidious. I can tell you what addiction smells like, listerine flavored beer breath or smoke infested pores. Addiction looks like many things....But it destroys everything if it is not arrested. There are no cures for the afflicted but there is armor for the battle.

I knew as a very small child that there was something a little different about my home life. It's not any one thing, but a lot of small things that made me fear my Father's presence. Shame, anxiety, fear, survival.... All these words describe my constant mood as a child.

All my life I have surrounded myself with addicts? Why? Because it's all I've ever known. I understand addicts, there need for privacy, approval and unsolicited help. If you find a drunk I'm sure there will be a martyr (a.k.a co-dependent) close by! Most addictions would be cut in half if the people in the addicts life got help. It's hard for addicts to survive without enablers. It is equally hard for the co-dependents of the world to survive without their "save an addict fix".

So what does addiction look like?
It's the biggest known secret on the block! Everyone knows a little something about it, but no one wants to talk about it! Well at least not until it becomes life threatening.We have an epidemic going on right in front of us, and we still don't get it....that's addiction.

Letter To Pres. Bush: Don't let Big Tobacco off the hook!

December 05, 2005 07:57 AM

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Subject: Don't let Big Tobacco off the hook!


Dear President Bush:

I am writing to voice my opposition to the weakening changes in remedies proposed during the closing days of the RICO lawsuit against the tobacco industry. Cutting the remedy to $2 billion per year for a five-year nationwide stop-smoking program is woefully inadequate. The Department of Justice's own expert witness testified that more than $5 billion per year was needed over the next 25 years to help the 45 million already-addicted smokers quit.

The tobacco industry continues to market its lethal products to our children. This is evidenced by candy-flavored cigarettes and new products with unproven health claims such as "all of the taste...less of the toxins" and "reduced carcinogens, premium taste." The industry has increased its marketing expenditures to a record $12.5 billion -- $34.2 million a day - in 2002, according to the annual Federal Trade Commission report.

The Justice Department has put forth a strong case against the tobacco industry and should use this opportunity to hold the industry accountable for its wrongful behavior and reduce tobacco's terrible toll. I urge you to insist on the strong remedies recommended by your own expert witnesses, including fundamental reform of the industry's harmful marketing practices; the establishment of well-funded, sustained, nationwide programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit; and financial penalties against the tobacco companies should they continue to addict our children.

Please put the health of this country before the bottom line of Big Tobacco. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Bowman

cc:

Senator Lindsey Graham
Representative John Spratt
Senator Jim Demint
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

Letters to my Rep. about Tobacco laws

December 05, 2005 07:48 AM

Senator Lindsey Graham
U.S. Senate
290 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-0001

Senator Jim Demint
U. S. Senate
340 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-0001

Representative John Spratt
U.S. House of Representatives
1401 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0001

Subject: FDA Regulation of Tobacco Products


Dear Senator Graham: Dear Senator Demint: Dear Representative Spratt:

It's time for Congress to take a stand to protect public health against tobacco products. I urge you to demonstrate support by cosponsoring S. 666/H.R. 1376, offered by Senators DeWine and Kennedy and Representatives Davis and Waxman.

Each day 2,000 children and teens become regular smokers. Over 440,000 Americans die prematurely from smoking related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and lung disease like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

This legislation grants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration effective authority to regulate tobacco products, protecting children and promoting public health.

Unlike any other products consumed by Americans, tobacco products continue to escape even the most basic oversight.

Currently, tobacco companies spend over $12 billion each year in advertising and marketing of their products. A new wave of products, such as candy-flavored cigarettes, Camel Kauai Kolada, Kool Midnight Berry and many others are clearly targeting children and teens. Others are appealing to those concerned about health with claims like "great taste - less toxins." This bill will allow the FDA to stop tobacco companies from marketing to children and making false health claims.

Please support the strong FDA legislation. It will protect the public health and help prevent a new generation from becoming addicted to tobacco products.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Bowman