Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the United States
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I. The Rise of Addiction. Drugs and Alcohol are nothing new to the United States. Commensurate with the first settlements, alcohol and drugs became an integral part of the American fabric. By many accounts, the Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, rather than continue sailing south because they were running out of supplies, foremost of which was alcohol.[1] In addition, what are now controlled and/or illicit (illegal) drugs were once readily available “over-the-counter” and quite pervasive. The early 1800's saw the rise of heroin and its derivatives with the max-influx of Chinese labor relative to the building of the American rail system. While it is commonplace to think of the “wild west” as a hot bed of saloons and cowboys “cutting the dust” with bottles of whisky, it was just as likely that they would frequent opium dens and spend countless days in dream-like trances amidst prostitutes and near-do-wells.[2] Opium derivatives such as Laudanum were produced by reputable companies and prospered in countless forms; soon becoming the elixir of choice for ailments including headaches, colds, tuberculosis, alcoholism, and even cancer. Morphine[3], another opium derivative, was heralded as a wonder drug due to its unparalleled ability to inhibit or eliminate severe pain.
Is Alcoholics Anonymous Effective?By John David Balla
And while it is undeniably true that people do get sober in AA, according to its own 1990 Triennial Survey report, only 5 percent of AA members continue with the program longer than a year. That’s a 95 percent failure rate. Natural recovery, or what many researchers call spontaneous remission, an admittedly clinical term for “getting sober on your own,” claims a success rate of between 3.7 and 7.4 percent (See Spontaneous Recovery in Alcoholics: A Review and Analysis of the Available Research, by R. G. Smart. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Vol. 1, 1975-1976, p. 284.) To simplify matters, this number has been rounded out to 5.5 percent. |
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, December 2000 report,the vast personal, social, and economic problem of alcoholism will cost the U.S. economy $289 Billion by 2010. And the situation is getting worse, not better.
The Myth of Chemical ImbalanceBy Kelley Alexander
There is No Scientific Evidence to Support the Claim that “Chemical Imbalances” Cause Depression, Anxiety or Other Related Mental Illness. This fact is well known by the mainstream medical and psychiatric profession, yet prescriptions for antidepressants continue to be the preferred and accepted course of treatment for depression and anxiety-related “disorders”. |
Today, over 27 million Americans, many still in their teens, are being prescribed some type of antidepressant to curb their complaints of depression, or other undesirable chronic mood. This may be an acceptable course of treatment except for one vital fact:<< prev - page 1 of 1 - next >>