Pubdate: Fri, 09 Jan 2004
Source: Leduc Representative (CN AB)
Copyright: 2004 Leduc Representative
Contact:  http://www.leducrepresentative.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2265
Author: Lisa Wojna

COCAINE ANONYMOUS HOSTS WEEKLY LEDUC MEETINGS

Leduc Representative - Jack (not his real name) started experimenting with
marijuana at the age of 12.

By 14 he was selling, and by 20 he had tried most other mind-altering
stimulants.

But when he started using cocaine -- commonly referred to as the rich man's
Aspirin -- he was hooked.

"It gives you that false sense of security," Jack explained, adding that
without it he had no self-confidence.

With it he felt he could conquer most anything.

A successful man with a solid career, Jack could manage his addiction
without letting it interfere too much with his work in the beginning.

At the same time, all he could think about was his next dance with the white
devil.

In time, cocaine became his life and destroyed anything that got in the way.

"That's what I knew. my plane would land and my week was a blur."

For many addicts, hitting rock bottom is the only time they come to the
realization they need help. For others, it's a more gradual process.

For Jack, it was the reality that he could see where his life was going.

"I was going to lose my job, my home, my girlfriend, and my life," he said,
adding he lost two friends to suicide because of cocaine.

Today, after eight years of sobriety, Jack credits the support he gets from
weekly Cocaine Anonymous meetings for keeping him focused.

"It's hard to go to an authority figure and share," Jack said. "But there's
a love and tolerance between members of the group because we all share the
same disease.

"This is a three-fold disease . spiritual, mental and physical."

The fellowship follows the same 12-step program adopted from Alcoholics
Anonymous, but Jack warns it isn't a quick-fix solution.

"The program is 100 per cent successful -- but you have to work damn hard at
it."

Although Jack's rehabilitation is a successful one, he admits cocaine
addiction is a lifelong disease.

There will never come a day when he won't need the weekly meetings, the
support from others, the literature and study.

"When I see a new person coming into the group I know I am like him -- I am
no better."

While maybe one in 10 users come to their first Cocaine Anonymous meeting
and successfully stay on the program without backsliding, most don't. "In
the beginning I was in and out of the program," he said.

The important thing to remember is that there is hope for recovery --
something Cocaine Anonymous strives to provide.

Cocaine Anonymous is now hosting regular meetings every Wednesday at 7:30
p.m. in Leduc at the Masonic Hall.

"God willing it fills up," Jack said of the group's first meeting, Jan. 7.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh