I mean, that’s at least in part why I ingested chemical waste – it was a kind of desire to abbreviate myself. To present the CliffNotes of the emotional me, as opposed to the twelve-column...

Happiness is not to be found at the bottom of a bottle or from the tip of a needle; it is not to be found amidst a cloud of smoke or within a sugar-coated pill....

We recognize that you’ve used substances to try to regain your lost balance, to try to feel the way you did before the need arose to use addictive drugs or alcohol. We know that you...

When people who believe themselves to be addicts or alcoholics come under great stress or trauma, they mentally give themselves permission to drink or use drugs as a remedy.

As a consequence of natural analgesic actions or as a result of the administration of drugs that interfere with body signaling (painkillers, anesthetics), the brain receives a distorted view of what the body state really...

Instead of a criminal or a drug addict, I was looking at a boy—just a boy.

If those underlying conditions aren’t treated, the return of those symptoms may cause us so much discomfort that we’ll go back to using addictive drugs or alcohol to obtain relief. That’s the primary reason there...

Alcohol and drugs are not the problems; they are what people are using to help themselves cope with the problems. Those problems always have both physical and psychological components- anything from anemia, hypoglycemia, or a...

Get real. They’ll try to kill us no matter what. I can find out how to open the files from Mickey. You may be impressed with this genius shit but you should really find out...

The advertise their products in such a fashion as to make it seem wonderful to drink their ethanol products. It does not matter if they give their products fancy name like Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot...

We know that you don’t want to be a drunk and you don’t want to be hooked on addictive drugs. You do it because you can’t cope with your life without some sort of support,...

Kadiri unavyozidi kupanda juu ndivyo utakavyoanguka vibaya.

Whether the underlying cause of your dependency is a chemical imbalance, unresolved events from the past, beliefs you hold that are inconsistent with what is true, an inability to cope with current conditions, or a...

Don’t be stuck in a life that’s not yours just because of a bad habit

Kujiingiza katika madawa ni matokeo ya maisha. Hatutumii madawa ya kulevya. Madawa ya kulevya ni sisi wenyewe; tunahitaji kusaidiwa.

One of the first actions we take at Passages is to ruthlessly scrutinize, always under a doctor’s supervision and care, the specific necessity of any mind- altering or mood-altering medications that our clients are taking....

Last night I dreamt Moses and I were rowing underwater.We could breathe and talk to one another.We rowed past schools of fish and sea anemones and Moses named them for me.”—Jules Finn

Situmii madawa ya kulevya. Madawa ya kulevya ni mimi mwenyewe; nahitaji kusaidiwa!

It’s the causes, not the dependent person, that must be corrected. That’s why I see the United States’ War on Drugs as being fought in an unrealistic manner. This war is focused on fighting drug...

He was taking a leap here, negotiating with a crackhead, under the table, in a dark cantina. The courage etched on his face came from loving Aidia so much he’d close his eyes and walk...

I wanted to meet the monster. Why go down if you can go up?

The treatment must fit the malady and the malady is not alcoholism or addiction, or addictive drugs and alcohol. Once the correct cause is diagnosed, healing will take place and hoped-for cure will come about.

Funny how someone can be so beautiful and totally fucked up at the same time.

…there is a saying used in twelve-step programs and in most treatment centers that “Relapse is part of recovery.” It’s another dangerous slogan that is based on a myth, and it only gives people permission...

The punishment approach and bad consequences approach to treatment is the kind of thinking that is prevalent in every residential substance abuse treatment center in the United States of which I’m aware.

Well I’m in pain, aren’t I?

I wrote this book to show you that a cure is entirely possible because I’ve seen it happen over and over again.

When nothing else worked, we created a holistic, hand-tailored program that saved Pax’s life. At Passages, he and I use what we learned in curing him to help other discover the roots of their addiction...

She wasn’t about to go down that road herself, which was a testament to her spiritual awakening and her commitment to sanity. It was a real blessing that she didn’t follow me, because oftentimes, people...

That does not qualify you as a chemist.

In 1935, when there were no other programs, the founders of AA, Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith, stepped up to the plate and took action to help a crippled population. All credit for the...

AA purports to be open to anyone, as it is stated in Tradition Tree, “The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking,” but it isn’t open to everyone. It’s open only...

When the black thing was at its worst, when the illicit cocktails and the ten-mile runs stopped working, I would feel numb as if dead to the world. I moved unconsciously, with heavy limbs, like...

I spent the rest of that day and most of the night thinking about all the hundreds of people I had met in rehabs and sober living houses and on the streets. We were all...

Treatment for dependency at substance abuse treatment centers must change if alcoholism and addiction are to be overcome in our society.

Every person in the AA program who’s successful is living proof that he or she does have power over addictive drugs and alcohol- the power to stop.