I am incredibly thankful for the statements U.S. Drug Czar Kerlikowske made about recovery in his latest speech when he said previous federal drug policies were a three-legged stool, with criminalization, prevention and treatment serving as the foundation for national policies. Now there will be a fourth leg – recovery.
Sobriety is a right, not a privilege and we have to start treating it like that. Therefore, I am glad to hear U.S Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske encourage people to talk about their recovery. Speaking out about addiction is one of the most important things I have ever done for my recovery. It is my recovery, as addiction is a disease both social and physical that grows in silence and in the dark. A lot more people would find long-term recovery from addiction if we had better social perception of what it means to be sober. But then it also doesn’t help that we have 38,000 laws that prevent people who struggle with addiction from getting the help they so desperately need.
In my recovery, I have learned that being drug-free is the greatest gift of life. I also learned after I watched my father die of cancer that there may come a time in my life where I will be forced to make a choice and that choice will be between struggling or dying in pain or dying out of pain like my father did. As a cancer patient he had no longer been treatable, was brought under hospice care and was starved and fed a morphine drip for three months until the good Lord took him. It was horrible to see him go this way.
Sobriety is a right, not a privilege and we have to start treating it like that. Therefore, I am glad to hear U.S Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske encourage people to talk about their recovery. Speaking out about addiction is one of the most important things I have ever done for my recovery. It is my recovery, as addiction is a disease both social and physical that grows in silence and in the dark. A lot more people would find long-term recovery from addiction if we had better social perception of what it means to be sober. But then it also doesn’t help that we have 38,000 laws that prevent people who struggle with addiction from getting the help they so desperately need.
In my recovery, I have learned that being drug-free is the greatest gift of life. I also learned after I watched my father die of cancer that there may come a time in my life where I will be forced to make a choice and that choice will be between struggling or dying in pain or dying out of pain like my father did. As a cancer patient he had no longer been treatable, was brought under hospice care and was starved and fed a morphine drip for three months until the good Lord took him. It was horrible to see him go this way.
It made me realize how precious life is and that every day,
I want to live it in a healthy way and see it in clear view and do every thing I can, not to take
my recovery for granted. Recovery has
given me so much.
For
more on Director Kerlikwske’s remarks visit: latimes.com
