Check out more of The Raw File’s Brenda Ann Kenneally at her website. There are some slideshows and commentaries that are just amazing!

Brenda Ann Kenneally: Biography

Money, Power, Respect: Real Life Stories from the Hip-Hop Generation
Soros Criminal Justice Media Fellow Brenda Ann Kenneally attended the University of Miami, where she earned a B.S. in sociology and photojournalism, and New York University, where she received an M.A. in studio art.

Kenneally has been documenting the causes, effects, and economy of the use and sale of illegal drugs in her Brooklyn, New York neighborhood. The mother of an eight-year-old, Kenneally has focused on how…

This is Part II of the story of Tata and Angel. Angel is now in jail and speaks of her experience after Tata died in the hospital…

Tata met Angel in a drug rehab after she had been arrested for dealing to support her habit. She had a long record of drug related charges, so the two-year treatment program came with a high alternative sentence of 5-10 years if she failed to complete it. Tata’s joy at having found true love at last had similar conditions. When Angel’s terminal diagnosis got him an early release from the program, Tata decided to…

The Raw File was created to produce and distribute socially reflective media that will provoke discussion. It is their hope that these conversations will intersect the lines of race and class, private and professional. Here they have put together a gripping and painful bio about two drug addicts and their love for each other…

Tata was already a fifteen -year veteran of the United States War on Drugs when she traded a decade of freedom to fight with her husband during the final days of his battle with liver cancer. Tata and Angel, met in a court mandated drug program. The rehab…

MINDFUL RECOVERY – A Spiritual Path to Healing from Addiction

By Thomas and Beverly Bien

Reviewed by Ginger Bauler

The title of this gem of a book is misleading. When one reads the title, one assumes that this is some sort of guide to recovery via Eastern Philosophy. Although the book does focus on processes more common to those already familiar with meditation, the authors have combined the practices of Buddhism with Western science and psychology in such a way that the reader is comfortable and at ease with the language of this journey. And the quest is universal – we are all…

Check out this excerpt from xdogotogodx a.k.a. Dog to God (I think!) and helping a lost newcomer at an A.A. meeting…

Thursday, December 13, 2007

I was in a meeting last night and had a newcomer approach me afterward, saying he thought he was in the wrong meeting. Well, he was. Wrong addiction. He was - as most newcomers - disoriented, and scared, and unsure of himself. He stumbled out the words about how to find the right place for him.

This meeting happened to be at a large rehab facility that has a lot of meetings. Fortunately, I get around to a wide…

Looks like a captivating read, The Discovering Alcoholic gives us some insight and points out some worthy quotes…

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Thu, 12/06/2007
I ran across an interesting interview today with John O’Dowd, author of Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story. It’s a biography of Barabara Payton, a 50’s A-movie starlet that at the top of her game plunged into alcoholic abyss from which she never returned. In little more than a decade she went from starring on the silver screen with the likes of Gregory Peck to the life of an alcoholic prostitute dead at the young age of 37.

While it may…

This is an insane story! A total MUST read. Sails of Oblivion comes to us from Melbourne, Australia.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Land of the Free
An interesting story has come to light thanks to my friend the lustrous Emely McCord, pictured below.

Just two weeks ago, her sister Annie was travelling in Canada with her boyfriend Jim. They had crossed the border from the States and were attempting to return when they ran into a little strife.

Since they looked like a couple of unscrubbed, long-haired hopheads, the border cops singled them out. Because of her dual citizenship [Aust/US], Annie was partially protected, but…

Join Together is working hard in advancing alcohol and drug policy, prevention and treatment through online campaigns, partnerships with other organizations, direct technical assistance and the development of research-based policy proposals to help professionals and activists throughout the country work for more effective policies.

Provide Treatment vs. Incarceration

Many crimes are rooted in alcohol and drug addictions. Yet, too often, nonviolent offenders are simply sent to jail and not treated for the addiction problems that led them there.

When we release individual with untreated addictions back into communities, they usually return to their friends, their habits, and their crimes.

More than half of those in…

A recent article in The Daily Mail covers the story of Amy Winehouses’ recent drug and alcohol binging. Blogger, The Discovering Alcoholic, has a very interesting and informative site with many captivating entries, such as this one…

Amy Winehouse: Cool, Creative, and Coping?
Tue, 12/04/07

I wish singer Amy Winehouse the best of luck, I really do. I will however use her addicted plight as a chance to highlight the myth that the substance abuse of artists such as Winehouse and others is part of a creative process or that it is “necessary to dull a finer sensibility.” This picture along with the corresponding story…

A couple of months ago, I was having a rare, terrible day at work. I was annoyed at everyone, overwhelmed with everything I had to get done, and in general in full-blown eek mode.

I also had to get in my car and drive somewhere. My thoughts, of course, ran something like this: I’m never going back to that stinking rat hole of a public radio station again! Never!!!!!

I was not in the mood for my current book-on-tape, so I turned on the radio and pushed the scan button. The numbers flipped upward and then, all of a sudden, Johnny Paycheck…

Parker L is, “a 50 year old recovering alcoholic artist. Since I had my moment of clarity a few 24 hours ago I cannot stop drawing and creating things out of found objects. Outsider/visionary in the truest sense of the word.”

Check out some of his artwork…

Well, here it is, December 14th and I haven’t bought one Christmas present - know what? With the exception of a 6 year old girl, I’m not planning on purchasing any presents this year. And this is not a “Bah! Humbug!” response to the over commercialization of the holidays, although it would be very appropriate, indeed.

It is, however, a choice I have made slowly, over each year of sobriety, to focus on things other than “things” to make this season “bright.” When I was drinking and drugging, Christmas was a time of endless parties (great reasons to imbibe in whatever…

This movie was made in the late 1960’s and was shown in classrooms showing the dangers of drug use. It is absolutely hilarious… I mean come on.

Katie Couric speaks with a doctor about the alarming trend in teen prescription drug abuse, Nov 28 2007.

Steve Pasierb of Partnership for a Drug-Free America has more on what parents can do to prevent drug use.

Amy Winehouse “ain’t goin’ to rehab,” but what impact does her obvious support of drug abuse have on the rest of the world?

UN: Celebrities ‘Glamorize’ Drugs
Sunday, November 18, 2007

Celebrities such as Amy Winehouse and Kate Moss are glamorizing cocaine use and fueling problems in Africa, according to the UN’s drug chief. The Rehab singer, 24, and supermodel Moss, 33, were singled out by Antonio Maria Costa as he warned that drug use in Britain directly contributed to the ‘complete collapse’ of some West African countries where drug cartels corrupt vulnerable governments. He said: ‘Look at Kate Moss, who still receives…

Methamphetamines dry the mouth and reduce saliva around the teeth. Combined with poor oral hygiene and an unhealthy diet, it causes teeth to decay, chip and break. Users also tend to grind and clench their teeth…and because of the drug’s devastating destruction, meth-damaged teeth usually have to be extracted.
For more information on meth mouth, visit www.ada.org and read more

Another entry about dreams from Lea Jacobson…

October 03, 2007
For my nine month anniversary… another drunk dream!
Yes, for completing nine sober months in the wee hours of this morning, my higher power decided to give me another drunk dream. In the dream, I am visiting an old friend, who for some reason is still living in the dorms of a US University. Her identity keeps changing. There is a lake nearby. I tell her that I have quit drinking, but I loose track of myself late one night and decide to drink one beer with her.

One beer. Yeah, right.

Soon we are…

Becky Kuhn, M.D. discusses how the use of crystal methamphetamine (a.k.a. meth, tina, crank, speed, tweak, ice, glass, or crystal) is contributing to the spread of HIV.

Doctor’s Girlfriend is approaching 2 years of sobriety and lost both of her parents 3 years ago in a fire. She has been given another opportunity to live life, and doesn’t plan on screwing it up. She is also dating a resident doctor…

Sunday, September 23, 2007
Sober Talk and Service Work

At my meeting down the street, I have made some friends since our move into the condo. I’m quite involved when it comes to my sobriety and it‘s for a simple reason. Someone told me a long time ago that if I wanted to stay sober/have a better life, I had to…

A documentary in progress by Sheila Ganz.
Moms Living Clean chronicles two years in the lives of six women in a women and children’s residential treatment center in San Rafael, California. The ‘drug of choice’ for all of these women is methamphetamine. Filmed on location, Moms Living Clean traces the women’s progress through the six month residential program, the transitional housing phase where they can live for two years and as they move out on their own. The film follows them as they undergo dramatic transformation. The women work to stay clean, set goals, learn parenting skills and become self-sufficient. Dr. Sushma Taylor’s narrative describing…

The Voyage of the Sobernaut is very funny and smart, unfortunately there are no recent posts, where are you Sobernaut? Did you get lost in space? Did you come across Bowie out there and decide not to return to earth? Read up.

Dollars and Calories
Captains Log - Mission Elapsed Time 9 days, 18 hours, 13 minutes and 6 seconds
A full grown bottle of bourbon used to be called “a fifth” because it contained roughly a fifth of a gallon of bourbon. In metric terms, that comes to about 750 ml, which is how it is sold and bottled today.
A 750 ml…

Prometa is touted as a new treatment for addictions, especially to meth, but some doctors say its claims are unverified, even though addicts and other doctors say it works. Scott Pelley reports.

60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley Reports On A New Addiction Treatment
Dec. 9, 2007

(CBS) Word is spreading fast about a new therapy that is said to break the grip of drug addiction in a simple treatment. Addicts who have tried everything and remained hopelessly hooked say their drug cravings ended almost overnight. The therapy is called “Prometa.” As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, it’s being promoted by Terren Peizer, a former junk…

The Coffee House is “an Ecumenical Christian Outreach focusing on issues of recovery from drugs and alcohol and reaching out to the addict who still suffers!”

Saturday, December 1, 2007
Closet Drinkers?

I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but I always considered myself a closet drinker. I would not go out to bar rooms, that never was my style. I would go out and get my stuff at the store and drink it at home with the doors locked and the curtains closed thinking no one else knew what was going on. Of course my biggest fear (besides running out…

An Irish Friend of Bill is frank and a pleasure to read, as she describes herself “I have recovered from the disease of Alcoholism. I believe there is only one person really,.. everybody. And that peace of mind is everything. -So treat your neighbor as you would treat yourself, because your neighbor IS yourself. I think most of recovery is what I would call common sense, but that learning to be ordinary is a true gift very few people acquire.”

Thursday, December 06, 2007

When (Still Drinking) Friends or Partners Think We Are Not So Much ? ‘FUN’ As We Used To Be…

“The…

by Mark Harris

While bearing a superficial resemblance to Quaker’s meetings, or Unitarian support meetings, with Christianesque references to a higher power, or God, Twelve Step programs are not in fact a religion. While 12-Step treatment practitioners indeed often fanatically adhere to non-scientific beliefs, rather than evidence based or culturally proficient praxis, people who cannot assimilate into their particular cultural world view are often discharged as non-compliant. I myself frequently engage in repair of those treatment failures, and train others to do so also. The Twelve Steps of AA and NA were created by two well off white men in the…

There are so many amazing bloggers out there in recovery that I wonder if it is possible to feature them all!?
Here is another one worth the time to visit… Alcoholic Brain from the West Coast.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The only requirement…
As a real alcoholic, I know what is necessary for people like me who have a desire to quit drinking. A spiritual experience. That is the only thing that will get real alcoholics of the hopeless variety sober. I was one of those. I haven’t had that sudden spiritual experience, (only once in 1978) but I feel that I am growing toward my…

Another great, honest entry from Lea Jacobson’s blog Geisha Interrupted.

October 19 2007
Drinking with the Garbage Bin

This morning I spotted a woman who was drinking with an old pal of mine: the trash bin.

Garbage bins are great drinking buddies. They always take your crap without complaint, and they never suggest that you might have a problem. They even take the evidence of any such problem out of your hands just as quickly as you can down 500 ml. Which is quick.

She is an otherwise normal looking woman who appears to live in this exclusive part of town. The only item in…

I hate cold weather. Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Always have; always will. So, naturally, I was outraged yesterday when it snowed. And, of course, since I live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the wind whistled and roared, as well.

I started shivering yesterday as soon as I got out of bed. It only got worse when I got to work as my office sits at about 63 degrees. So, I spent the morning trying to concentrate on editing a story while wearing two sweaters and a scarf, and, naturally, feeling grumpier and grumpier. I simply could not get…