Another star has fallen from the heavens of Hollywood, and it hasn't taken long for the inevitable question to follow: Why doesn't Mackenzie Phillips get it?

I am not in a position to defend Phillips, who reportedly has entered a treatment program after being arrested last month for possession of illegal drugs at Los Angeles International Airport.

But unlike Lindsay Lohan, whose trials and tribulations in the tabloids have included repeated trips to and from treatment during the past two years, I know Phillips. And while I haven't seen her in almost a decade, to me she never shirked her responsibilities to accept her addiction and to use her experiences to help others.

In 1998, she and I, among others, testified in Congress about the importance of ending discrimination by health insurance companies against people who need treatment for addiction to alcohol or other drugs. To this day, I recall how she sat before the powers that be on Capitol Hill and honestly and openly shared her life story to underscore the power of addiction and highlight the promise and possibility of recovery. It took a lot of guts to do that at a time when most troubled celebrities only made news when under the influence. It was even rarer that somebody with star power came to Washington to lobby for addiction treatment in the 1990s.

Ironically, a decade later, Congress finally has dug deep to find its own intestinal fortitude on this issue. The House and Senate are poised to vote on so-called parity legislation by the end of this month. If they do and President Bush signs the bill into law before he exits the White House, it will mean that thousands of people like Phillips who need treatment can get it through their health insurance.

I don't know how Phillips, whose career skyrocketed when she was an actress in the movie "American Graffiti" when she was only 12 years old and peaked when she acted in the sitcom "One Day at a Time," is paying for her treatment. I assume she still has money in the bank. But what's happened to her is a poignant reminder that addiction leads good people to make bad decisions and reasonable people to act irrationally. Phillips allegedly was caught trying to carry cocaine and heroin through an airport security checkpoint. In this post-9/11 world, it's tough to hide anything from those unforgiving federal screeners.

Hitting bottom, especially in relapse, includes ugly and serious consequences. Most of the letters and e-mails I get every week include this harsh reality. But for many of us, such adversity provides that teachable moment that is the wellspring of lifelong recovery.

In the ranks of public personas, Phillips is one of the few actresses, past or present, who understands that there is no quick fix for alcoholism or drug dependence. Still, I suspect she'll learn a thing or two in treatment. My hope is that she'll turn it into an opportunity to raise awareness, in a society under the influence of Hollywood, about the importance of living one day at a time.

William C. Moyers is the vice president of external affairs for the Hazelden Foundation and the author of "Broken," a best-selling memoir. The paperback edition was released in August 2007. 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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