It was pointed out to me last weekend that the billboard closest to the treatment center where I hold a weekend recovery meeting displays a messsage very representative of the strange relationship our society has with alcohol. Drivers coming in from town toward the center see an advertisement for ice cold beer, but those leaving out of the center see a much different message on the reverse side promoting abstinence from drugs and alcohol.

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I doubt many others have noticed this incongruity. What if I could change out the cold beer side with an advertisement for meth or heroin, would Joe Public then notice that such advertising is counterproductive and not exactly in good taste? I’m not saying I want to ban alcohol advertising, just that I wish we didn’t glorify it so much and write off its damage to society and as an acceptable loss.

The billboard does serve as a great reminder to those coming to the clinic though. Are they driving toward trouble or headed for recovery?

It kind of scares me to think what it means about the age of the plane I am on, but I still see the vestigial ashtray every once in a while during my travels. It’s hard to believe that in a single generation smoking that was once accepted everywhere has been virtually banished from the public arena. Like dinosaurs seeking refuge in the last habitable havens after an extinction event, smokers are now relegated to crowded smoking enclosures and back door alleys.

Smoking has been on the decline and continues to fall according to a new report on substance abuse and mental health. Much of the progress can be attributed to the shift in how smoking is often perceived as a social stigma and always a health risk; even smoking on film is now scorned. With children growing up in smoke free environments this trend will most surely continue…if we are lucky the habit could be near extinct in another generation. This long term approach and steady assault on not just the act, but public perception and its societal acceptance is one of the biggest lessons we can learn when searching for ways to battle our substance abuse problem that has shown no signs of abating.

But as I pass the crowded airport bar, have liquor miniatures passed over my seat by the flight attendant, and listen to the ubiquitous snoring drunk that cranks up louder than the jet engines- I know the battle has yet to even take off.

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never–in nothing, great or small, large or petty–never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. ~ Winston Churchill

It’s not a very a popular stance to take these days, but when discussing the war on drugs I am an unabashed hawk. Its has become a highly debated topic with both sides predictably skewing data and making “supported” assumptions in their arguments but IMHO most fall short of making a good case.

I’ll keep this short, the reasoning behind my support for the war on drugs is that legalization will eventually create the same acceptance and high tolerance we have for societal ills caused by alcohol. It’s not a family of origin issue, but a culture of origin issue- we glorify the use of alcohol yet downplay the tremendous resulting damage (abuse, neglect, poverty, crime, health issues, death, etc.).

Yes, I think the war could be waged more effectively with better tactics; there is always room for improvement. Yes, I think treatment should be stressed whenever possible, and no I am not advocating prohibition as the only solution. But I will never, never, never give in to increasing the availability and acceptance of a whole new class of intoxicants until our society learns how to better handle the ones that are already legal!

Thanks to TDA reader Norm for sending me the link to this interesting graph used in an attempt to provide a rational scale of the potential harm and misuse of a diverse range of drugs. I say attempt because in my opinion the authors have far underestimated the dependency and physical harm that should be attributed to alcohol.

I realize that any system devised to gauge harm will be arbitrary, but I find it hard to believe that these good doctors overlook the massive societal damage caused by alcohol when compared to the rest of these drugs. Here is a pdf on the actual study, any thoughts on the subject?

Much of the misery caused by inebriants and addicts goes unseen or is passed off as a different problem instead of yet another symptom of our disease.

Slow and painful: It is the stress of a helpless parent, the repercussions of a neglected child, health issues, or the money that is just no longer there.

Quick and deadly: Violence, crime, death and suicide happen every day because of drugs and alcohol yet their cultural acceptance is strong as ever. It takes something truly spectacular to raise the eye of the public. Earlier this week in Mexico, a city official provided this prerequisite when he took the picture above of a drunk driver plowing through a bicycle race… a very powerful image that is hard to ignore.

But for most it’s still just a photograph.

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Sure, I had no less than three alcoholics send me a link to this story. It hits home with us. Part of recovery is accepting and dealing productively with the pain we have visited upon others, especially those we love.

Now the same came be same for those who suffered through this tragedy that left one dead.

The force of the collision sent bicyclists and equipment high into the air and Matamoros newspaper El Mañana described children crying, women shouting for help and men trying to lynch Campos before police arrived to arrest him. ~ Fox News

Unfortunately though, most of the world will look at this image and instead of reflecting upon the misery brought into our lives by drugs and alcohol; they will say, “Wow, what a photograph!”

I