Pubdate: Sun, 25 Nov 2001 Source: State, The (SC) Copyright: 2001 The State Contact: http://www.thestate.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/426 Author: Dale Robertson (Houston Chronicle) Drug Addict Always A Drug Addict Give a cocaine-addicted mouse the choice between food, sex or blow, and the cute little creature doesn't think twice about what it wants most. Eating and procreating become non-options. You read that Ken Caminiti has been busted for smoking crack, and you're both shocked and disillusioned. You wonder how a guy who once had everything -- money, celebrity and a beautiful, supportive family -- could have nothing upstairs. Except Cammy's problem isn't stupidity. He's no more a master of his cravings than that poor mouse. He's a drug addict. He will always be a drug addict. And accepting this can be his salvation, whereas continuing to deny it will finish him off, completely ruining his life and perhaps even ending it. There's another drug addict coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers who understands what I'm saying here, who, in fact, tutored me on the subject. If John Lucas knew Caminiti, he would not be surprised to hear that the former National League Most Valuable Player had been busted. Although Luke has been clean and sober for years, not a day goes by that he doesn't realize how, with a single misstep, he could slip back into the awful haze, a place that led to his waking up one morning on a dirty sidewalk near downtown Houston wearing a urine-soaked suit and wondering why his shoes were missing. Fun stuff, coke. DALE ROBERTSON Houston Chronicle - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart