Beyond Addiction from Creators Syndicate

Hole in His Soul for 07/11/2009

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A quarter-century ago, I met Michael Jackson for five minutes backstage just before one of his concerts at the old Texas Stadium, near Dallas. He was on his "Victory" tour, and I was there covering the story as a young newspaper reporter.

We were born less than a year apart, but he seemed much older than I, probably because he was surrounded by a phalanx of black dudes with big ...

Updated: Sat Jul 11, 2009

An Allergic Obsession for 07/18/2009

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

You know you are allergic to cats if, after you let a friendly feline curl up on your lap while you stroke its fur and then rub your face with that hand, your eyes water, your nose runs and your skin swells or turns red.

An allergic reaction to alcohol or another drug can also manifest itself in unpleasant physical outcomes. But in describing alcoholism as an "allergy of the body,&q ...

Updated: Sat Jul 18, 2009

Picking Up Pennies for 07/25/2009

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

As a dedicated jogger, over the years I've covered a few thousand miles of pavement in a quest to keep fit and on pace with the relentless march of time that goes along with getting older. Three miles here, a 10k race there. Through bitterly cold Minnesota winters and brutally hot summer mornings in Texas. On the crowded beach in Southern California or in solitude around the lake at my cabin in ...

Updated: Sat Jul 25, 2009

Sow Seeds To Reap Recovery for 08/01/2009

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Almost 13,000 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents in 2007.

Every 40 minutes, somebody is killed by a drunken driver.

About 4 in 10 kids who start drinking before the age of 13 will abuse alcohol or develop alcohol dependence at some point in their lives.

Alcohol is dangerous.

But imagine taxpayers' outrage if the Obama administration, in a bid to ...

Updated: Sat Aug 01, 2009

Forging Forgiveness for 08/08/2009

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

On a summer Sunday afternoon, a 36-year-old mother coming home from a weekend camping trip drives while drunk and under the influence of marijuana. In her minivan are her own children and three nieces. For miles, the car speeds the wrong way on a major highway before crashing into an oncoming vehicle.

She dies. So do her daughter and her three nieces, as well as three men in the other ve ...

Updated: Sat Aug 08, 2009

Student Counsel for 08/15/2009

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The school year is about to begin at colleges and universities across the country. With it comes the opportunity for students to expand their academic horizons and their sense of independence, while their parents wonder and worry about what their children are learning outside the classroom.

Recent studies by the federal government have found that about 30 percent of college students met ...

Updated: Sat Aug 15, 2009

Cloud of Witnesses for 08/22/2009

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Andy Jensen was the rector of an Episcopal church in South Dakota when a young parishioner came to him pleading for help because he drank too much. Even though his own father had been an alcoholic, Jensen was not sure how to respond, so he turned to Lutheran Social Services for immediate guidance and later on to a professional training program at the Hazelden Foundation to learn more about alco ...

Updated: Sat Aug 22, 2009

Ties That Bind for 08/29/2009

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The line stretched down the hallway outside the sanctuary at Mile Hi Church, in Lakewood, Colo. Almost 1,000 people had come to listen to me share my story. Now it was my turn to listen to them, many dozens or so who had been drawn to that place out of a need to share pieces of themselves, too.

"What your daddy did to Goldwater was wrong, and I don't agree with your politics, either ...

Updated: Sat Aug 29, 2009

Holding On by Letting Go for 09/05/2009

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

At 7:33 this morning, history was made. It is the start of another school year for my three kids, and they went off to class without a parent behind the wheel of the car.

My eldest son is driving now. And with no fanfare or photos to record the moment, he took his younger brother and sister to school. Being the proud parent that I am, I sent them off with a stout wave and a shout of enco ...

Updated: Sat Sep 05, 2009

Super Ball Syndrome for 09/12/2009

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Not long ago, I met with a group of women and men in treatment who are fresh in recovery. They are all eager to convert their hope-fueled enthusiasm to fix the people, places and things that were shattered by their addiction to alcohol or other drugs.

"I hurt just knowing how many people I hurt," says David T., a veterinarian from Pittsburgh. "When I get back home, I've go ...

Updated: Sat Sep 12, 2009

Googling Recovery for 09/19/2009

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

For better or worse, the search engine Google defines what is relevant in today's world. So the other day, I asked my colleague Barbara Weiner, Hazelden's research librarian, to tell me how many times the word "recovery" shows up when entered into the Google monster.

I'm interested because September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, a rare moment each year ...

Updated: Sat Sep 19, 2009

Parents Weekend for 09/26/2009

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Summer is hanging on in many parts of the country. But there's no doubt the season is changing. Students are back in school. And already, college campuses are hosting the annual pilgrimages of parents eager to check up on their kids who have flown the coop and are living away from home, many for the first time.

Dear Mr. Moyers: I just got back from visiting my freshman son at a s ...

Updated: Sat Sep 26, 2009

Coming Clean for 10/03/2009

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Many alcoholics and addicts suffer long-term physical consequences as a result of their use, even after they get sober. This includes chronic pain that may require the use of doctor-prescribed narcotics. So how does this affect somebody's recovery?

Dear Mr. Moyers: I used heroin for 20 years and crack for eight. In a few weeks, my family will be celebrating the 10th anniversary o ...

Updated: Sat Oct 03, 2009

Talk to Me for 10/10/2009

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

It's a question I'm asked no matter where I speak, from churches and Rotary Club events to public-school assemblies and private luncheons with business leaders: Should parents share their personal histories of drug and alcohol use with their kids?

A groundbreaking study released this week by Hazelden, where I work, should answer this question once and for all. It is no longer acceptable ...

Updated: Sat Oct 10, 2009

Counting Hours for 10/17/2009

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

In my 12-step meeting a few days ago, a woman stood up and announced that she was new to the group and that she had 36 hours of sobriety. She was greeted with a rousing round of cheers and applause. Sober people tend to do that; it's as much for themselves as it is for the newcomer. "Hooray for her, and thank goodness it's not me" is the expressed but unspoken sentiment among fellow t ...

Updated: Sat Oct 17, 2009

Blowback for 10/24/2009

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Based on the paucity of responses, I wonder sometimes whether anyone reads the words in this space. And then there are those weeks when it seems everybody does, especially when most of them disagree with my point of view.

Such is the fallout from my column a few weeks ago about a groundbreaking poll of teenagers and their parents and how they talk to one another about their use of alcoho ...

Updated: Sat Oct 24, 2009

Token of Gratitude for 10/31/2009

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

For his 17th birthday, I gave my eldest son, Henry, a gift certificate to fill up the truck with gasoline a couple of times. He drives an old Chevy Tahoe, so the card won't take him very far. But with some cash he got from his grandparents and his job mowing a neighbor's lawn, he's got a reserve to keep him rolling along for a couple of months.

What I hope he'll get more mileage out of i ...

Updated: Sat Oct 31, 2009

Middle of the Goal for 11/07/2009

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A dear friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. The experts told her that a mastectomy was needed to eliminate the disease but that nothing else was necessary. She had the breast removed and also chose to undergo the rigors of chemotherapy. She went to any length to improve her chances. It meant losing her hair and suffering the debilitating side effects. But six years later, she is he ...

Updated: Sat Nov 07, 2009

Medicine Jar for 11/14/2009

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

One of Paul McCartney's many songs about drug use included this bottom line: "Dead on your feet, you won't get far, if you keep on sticking your hand in the medicine jar."

So just what's in that medicine jar in your bathroom cabinet? You may not be the only one who knows.

Dear Mr. Moyers: This correspondence comes your way via a heavy heart. Our youngest daughter ...

Updated: Sat Nov 14, 2009

Broadway Debut for 11/21/2009

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

It took 13 years, but I finally appeared on a stage in front of an audience on Broadway.

The Capri Theater on Broadway Avenue in a gritty stretch of North Minneapolis was filled with politicians and civic leaders, ministers and a couple of donors with deep pockets. My real affinity was for everyone else in the crowd — the crack addicts and alcoholics, who share my illness.

& ...

Updated: Sat Nov 21, 2009