Beyond Addiction

In the spirit of the holiday week ahead and our collective need to spend time outdoors, away from the computer and in the blossoming summer season, a bang-bang series of rapid-fire responses to recent columns in this space.

From Sister Ann C., a Roman Catholic nun who lives in a convent in Pittsburgh: Regarding the topic of "high-functioning" alcoholics, I think you're right on. The "functioning" comes from the unhealthy drive (self-will) to satisfy self above all else without regard for the cost. Many alcoholics are talented, functioning at the highest levels of self-deception, but truth becomes the great leveler.

From Vic D., a professor at a university in Texas who recently was "outed" as a recovering alcoholic to the school administration, on the importance of standing up and speaking out for recovery: The stigma that exists on college campuses around alcoholism has got to end. In some ways, it makes me want to run. In other ways, I want to cuss out the administration and faculty because they don't think there is a problem, or they think it only affects bad people, who they say shouldn't be teaching anyway. I feel it is time to set the record straight that alcoholics look like me and that when we recover, we are the best teachers around.

From Brad D. in suburban Minneapolis on his perspective about relapse: You argue that it happens because addiction is a chronic disease that doesn't have a cure. I'll tell you why it has happened to me after six months of sobriety: I have been "feeding the monster" inside me. I have no idea what that monster is yet, but it is always hungry, and right now it is eating me alive.

From Tim M.

in Jacksonville, Fla., who took issue with my considering marijuana to be a gateway drug to addiction: No matter what your experience has been, sir, pot is not dangerous. I get stoned just about every night after work. I don't smoke enough to be out of my head, just enough to take the edge off a hard life and relax a bit. I am sorry that your experience getting high led you to worse things, but not everyone shares your story. At least, my friends and I don't.

From Carole T., a congressional staffer on Capitol Hill, on the politics of addiction: Not everyone in Congress is hooked on alcohol or drugs. But you know how they say "a drug is a drug is a drug"? Well, a politician is a politician is a politician; all of them are intoxicated with power and under the influence of their own egos. So I suppose you're right; addiction doesn't discriminate.

And finally, from Nan P., a mother in Toledo, Ohio, who turned 50 years old the same week I did in May: You are right on about how our children help us to understand the rewards of recovery. I have been clean and sober for 20 years now. My daughter, Jenna, saw what drugs and alcohol did to me (and to us), and her experiences with me kept her from following me down the path. Now she is a new mother, and I am a grandmother for the first time. So my perspective helped her, and her experience reminds me of what it is all about. Today I am grateful, just as I am every day I am sober. It's worth all the effort I put into it.

Happy Fourth of July!

William C. Moyers is the vice president of external affairs for the Hazelden Foundation and the author of "Broken," his best-selling memoirs. Please send your questions to William Moyers at William@WilliamMoyers.com. To find out more about William Moyers and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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