Drug and alcohol addiction and abuse. Recognition. Prevention. Treatment
20/20 Parenting. Recognizing and mitigating early vulnerabilities and risk factors.
Letters to Kerry
Stories of Victory, Struggle, Tragedy, & Workplace Concerns
November 24, 2005:
Once again, I am grateful for the effort to bring awareness to the community of the “NEW KILLER DRUG OF THE DAY” of our children. I am grateful to the panel of experts on addictions and their consequences [recent forum held in Courtney, B.C.].
Again, I’d like to emphasize the fact that our kids are in danger from tobacco and alcohol first and foremost. The other illegal drugs may or may not follow. Alcohol, I believe, plays a huge role in addictions, accidents and suicide. It is a very violent drug.
Until a cure for addictions of any type is found, we will lose many more children. We need to treat this as a serious illness. Until parents have the right to getting their children into rehabs immediately when warning signs present themselves, we will continue to lose children. Laws need to be changed, as does the whole concept of dealing with addictions.
The power is in the addiction itself. The addict is no longer in control, as the addiction has taken over the mind and the body. It has already started to kill the person you know and love, and that addiction will fight anyone trying to stop it. You cannot stop fighting. It’s powerful and it kills, but we have to fight this killer of our kids. It’s our duty as a community, as parents.
The current treatments are band-aids at best. The recovery rates are extremely low. Funding and affordable rehabs and counseling are also low and there are not nearly enough beds available anywhere. We all have good intentions but that isn’t enough. We need much more. Education and awareness isn’t enough, but it’s a commendable good start.
Believe me when I tell you, no child wakes up one day and says “I want to be an addict when I grow up”. We need to stop addiction in its tracks by finding a cure. Sounds simple doesn’t it? A dopamine switch, if only it was as simple as that. But we can clone sheep, aren’t we an intelligent species?
Think about it. If we could find a cure, a lot of people would be a lot less over-worked…the emergency rooms, ambulances, police, the list goes on. There wouldn’t be a need to beg for more rehab beds because the demand wouldn’t be so great. But best of all, we wouldn’t be burying so many children and young adults needlessly.
So for now all we can do is pray and not lose hope that some day someone will be able to cure this killer called ADDICTION so it’s victims can finally rest in peace. Or, do we really want a cure; there are after all a lot of people making money off of addictions, be they legal or illegal.
Again, I am very grateful for the people who tirelessly and selflessly really do care and try to make a difference. Bless you.
Erika Winter
A Suicide Survivor Mom Still Honoring Her Son And Missing Him Deeply.
I Love you Larry
