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eNewsletter - January 8, 2008
Beyond Addiction
Beyond Addiction is a new syndicated column by Faces & Voices board member William Moyers. Here’s a timely excerpt from the most recent colum, “Dear Mr. Moyers: I am running for major office at the state level. I've been in recovery for over a decade now. My family and many of my closest friends know this. The media and the public do not. It's not an issue at the moment, and I am not sure it will be. But given the down-and-dirty nature of political campaigns, it might. How do I handle this?
— A candidate for attorney general from a state below the Mason-Dixon Line
Dear Southern state candidate: Put it on your resume like you would all your other accomplishments. As long as you're clean and sober and not using and abusing any longer, your ability to overcome the adversity of your addiction provides you with the opportunity to show voters who you really are and what you've become. You'll certainly be well-qualified to talk about addiction issues. Besides, you just might inspire others to get help, too. No matter the outcome of the election, you'll win in the end.”
Here's the complete column:
The Politics of Drug Use
The cacophony between supporters of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton about his use of illegal drugs many years ago has drowned out what the presidential candidates really should be debating.
How do we talk to kids about the risks when we ourselves have our own war stories from our younger days?
Clearly, it's not in the approach of our current president. During the 2000 campaign, then-candidate Bush said, "If I were you, I wouldn't tell your kids that you smoked pot unless you want them to smoke pot."
But the "I didn't inhale" disclaimer of his predecessor, Bill Clinton, won't work, either.
Instead, candidates of both parties should set an example for all of us in embracing an honest and open attitude whenever the subject comes up on the campaign trail or at home.
Dear Mr. Moyers: The other day, out-of-the-blue, my granddaughter came home from kindergarten and spit out, "Mimi, were you ever a drug addict?" What a shock! I'm not even sure she knows what a drug addict is, but when I asked her what she meant, she was even more direct. "Did you ever do bad things like drugs?" Of course I lied to her. But it got me to thinking, and now I feel guilty. You know it's going to come up again. What should I do next time? (By the way, I never was addicted, but I did smoke marijuana in college in the early '70s, and we all drank too much sometimes.)
— Heather N. in Sacramento, Calif.
Dear Heather: If it's any comfort, you're not alone. A lot of adults — even grandparents now — face this reality. Suddenly, our past becomes relevant to the next generation. There's no easy answer, but it's a lot easier to be honest now than to risk that the dishonesty will catch up with you later. It is never too early to explain the truth to young people, especially since the question suggests your granddaughter has some awareness already from somewhere.
To start, you should explain that this isn't so much about bad vs. good behavior as it is about right or wrong decisions. Tell her that the choices you made resulted in risk and perhaps even painful consequences, but that such experiences eventually led you to choose not to use drugs as an adult.
Be careful not to glorify or demonize your drug use. You don't need to get into the nitty-gritty details or gloss over it, either. I suspect you'll find that your granddaughter will come to respect and look up to you even more as she enters those difficult teenage years.
If only our politicians could lead by such example.
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. To find out more about William Moyers and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page.
COPYRIGHT 2007 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.