Pubdate: Fri,  5 Jul 2002
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2002 The Charlotte Observer
Contact:  http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Author: William C. Moyers
Note: William C. Moyers is vice president of external affairs for the 
Hazelden Foundation and son of TV journalist Bill Moyers. His experiences 
were the basis for the 1998 public television series, "Moyers on Addiction: 
Close to Home."
Note: This item originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1151/a06.html

BUSH'S RECOVERY SHOULD SHAPE HIS DRUG POLICIES

If only America's so-called war on drugs could be recast in the spirit of 
my chance meeting with President Bush last year in the White House Rose Garden.

"Mr. President, my name is William Moyers, I'm from Minnesota and I am a 
person in recovery," I said.

Without batting an eye, the president grasped my hand and replied, "Sounds 
like we have something in common."

I was all but a complete stranger to Bush. But in that moment we connected. 
And because I told him nothing else about me, I assume it was from the 
commonality of our experiences of having overcome the desperate condition 
of drinking too much.

I am a recovering alcoholic and addict. Whether the president labels 
himself the same, I don't know. But on that day at least, Bush knew exactly 
where I was coming from because, by his own account, he once drank too much 
and now he doesn't drink at all.

Ironically, our handshake occurred just after the president had announced 
his nomination of John Walters as the nation's drug czar. Critics within 
the drug policy reform movement denounced the appointment, saying Walters' 
record showed he was no friend of addicted people. What's more, Walters has 
said he sees addiction as a moral or criminal issue, rather than an 
illness. In policy terms, that translates into funds going to law 
enforcement, not to treatment programs.

But flush with optimism that finally we had a president who understood the 
power of addiction and the possibility of recovery, I urged restraint in 
opposing the Walters nomination. Maybe now, I argued to my fellow policy 
reform advocates, the president's own experience would allow his 
administration to refocus the war on drugs, promoting effective prevention 
and treatment programs. My position was met with criticism from my 
colleagues in the addiction treatment field and sparked disdain from some 
of my fellow recovering alcoholics.

Ultimately, the Senate approved Walters' nomination, after both he and the 
president spoke repeatedly about narrowing the treatment gap for the 3.5 
million people that the federal government estimates need treatment but are 
not seeking help. For a while at least, it appeared that the 
administration's approach had been tempered by the reality that America's 
war on drugs required a more balanced approach.

And then Sept. 11 happened, which abruptly rewrote the national agenda. 
Suddenly the war on drugs became an adjunct to the war on terrorism. The 
Office of National Drug Control Policy has run distasteful television ads 
equating teen-age drug use with support for terrorists, part of a $185 
million-a-year media blitz that Walters now admits has been ineffective. 
Proposed funding for prevention and treatment of drug addiction did 
increase in the president's 2003 budget -- as did federal dollars for 
interdiction and law enforcement. But two-thirds of the $19 billion the 
Bush administration wants to spend fighting drugs merely targets the supply 
- -- rather than treating the demand.

I had hoped for a more balanced approach. The first family knows all about 
underage drinking and the problems it causes. And earlier this year the 
media reported that a relative of the president was arrested and ended up 
in treatment after forging a prescription for a tranquilizer in Florida. 
Surely these personal experiences would resonate at the White House, 
leading to a saner drug policy for all of us.

Alas, it was not to be. In April, the president spoke out in favor of more 
equitable insurance coverage for people struggling with debilitating mental 
illnesses like depression and bipolar disorder. But he left out any mention 
of the illness that his family and mine know well -- alcoholism and drug 
dependence.

The nonprofit foundation I work for extends about $5 million a year in 
financial aid to addicted people and their families seeking treatment. 
Ironically, most of this assistance goes to employed people whose private 
health care insurance won't pay for the professional and comprehensive help 
they need to overcome their illness. In Congress, legislation to fix this 
disparity draws strong opposition from some of Bush's biggest political 
supporters, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the insurance 
industry. When it comes to the politics of addiction, it seems the 
president has more in common with his campaign contributors than he does 
with people like me.

Yet treatment for addiction does work. According to the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services, treatment cuts drug use by about 50 percent. 
Reported alcohol and drug-related medical illnesses decline by more than 
half, and criminal activity drops by as much as 80 percent.

And recovery benefits all of society. When people like me stop using and 
abusing, we stop demanding Colombia's cocaine, Afghanistan's heroin and 
Mexico's marijuana. We get back to work, pay taxes, obey the law and vote. 
And once in a rare while, one of us who changed our drug or alcohol habits 
gets a chance to be president of the United States.
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