Some readers responded with support for my perspective: “Pot made me infectiously goofy, wonderfully giddy and incredibly introspective before it caused me to not care anymore, and then I lost my job, my bank account, my girlfriend,” wrote Paul D. from Des Moines, Iowa.

A few others pushed beyond my position that marijuana should remain illegal: “Anything that affects how we feel or how we think is dangerous and should be banned, and that includes alcohol” posited a pastor from Smyrna, Georgia. “Alcohol is the worst drug curse on America.”

But others pushed back, citing the surge in arrests for marijuana possession that is snaring a disproportionate number of people of color who are non-violent, poor and end up behind bars. Lee E. from Shreveport, Louisiana wrote:

“You’re a white dude who got addicted, but what about black guys like me whose only ‘crime’ is a couple of joints on the weekend? We’re the ones paying the price of this stupid ‘war on drugs.’ If alcohol is legal, reefer should be too.

I’m against legalizing pot. But Lee’s got a point. Two recent reports by the Sentencing Project in Washington and by Human Rights Watch in New York cite a persistent racial gap in drug arrests in America. Adult males are nearly 12 times as likely to be arrested and jailed for drug offenses than white men, according to federal data. And four in 10 of all arrests were for marijuana possession.

The bottom line: in 2006, drug-related arrests climbed to 1.89 million, up from 1.85 million in 2005 and 581,000 in 1980. Most end up in overcrowded jails and never get help.

The drug war gets results. But it has done almost nothing to reduce the problems caused by legal and illegal drugs, mainly because it has consistently failed to recognize and promote a solution that works: prevention, treatment and recovery for people who possess and use these substances.

Dear Mr. Moyers: “My young daughter is back in one of the three worst places in Florida: the St. Lucie County Jail: she was arrested again for having marijuana. The first time she got released and told not to do it. But she’s an addict and you know what happens…doing the same thing over and over again. So she got picked up a second time, was there 10 days, let out and went right back to the drug house. This time she’s been in jail almost 50 days and I am very concerned about her mental and physical state in that place. I don’t want her in jail, but I don’t want her on the streets again either. She needs help. My heart is broken and so is my family. This is truly a disease that kills whole families and is not comprehensible to people who haven’t lived it. If you have any ideas about where I can go for some real help please, please let me know. I will do anything! Anne J. in Fort Pierce, FL.”

Dear Anne: There is only so much you can do, unless your daughter is willing to get help. If so, it is imperative that a judge assign her to the county drug court there. She will be held accountable for her offense by being sent to treatment. She broke the law because she is addicted. That is no excuse, but it the explanation for why she keeps getting in trouble. By successfully completing the program she won’t spend time in jail and her case may be dismissed. I suggest you write the judge a personal letter and also send a copy to the district attorney and her defense attorney. More importantly, she should write them a letter too, explaining why she deserves another chance. Drug court can give her that chance, but only if she makes the effort.

But secretly I was relieved. If only for a few more weeks, I selfishly know, my son won’t be behind the wheel of a car. With cell phones and iPods and those little headphones stuck in the ear, drivers today face road hazards that were non-existent in earlier generations.

According to an AAA survey released this week, more than half of drivers admitted to using a cell phone while driving and 15 percent said they had text messaged on the road. The most chilling statistic: one in 10 admits to having driven drunk in the past month alone.

We all still have a lot to learn about the dangerous distractions to driving of technology. But none of us should need to know anything else about the affects of alcohol.

“Dear Mr. Moyers: Fifteen years ago my parents were killed by a drunk driver while they were coming home from a church dinner. In my heart I cannot forgive the young college woman who killed them. It was her second DWI. She spent time in prison and must live with the scars of her actions for the rest of her life. But to my shock she recently contacted me. She wants to meet me to work together to educate the public about the dangers of drunk driving and how treatment is what offenders must get. I’m not a harsh or vindictive person. Still, I have a hard time accepting her premise about treatment. Should I meet with her? I don’t want to let drunk drivers off the hook or send a wrong message here. My parents are dead because she drank too much and got behind the wheel – it’s that simple. Melissa W. in Atlanta, Georgia.”

Dear Melissa: Your family’s tragedy will never disappear. Neither will the woman’s responsibility for causing it. What she did was wrong. But perhaps there is some good that can come from this. On a personal level, only you can decide if meeting with her is the right thing to do. I’m sure it won’t be easy. There is, though, power in publicly sharing your story in the context of how she shares hers. Together, both of you can help people understand the tragic toll of drunk driving while at the same time raising awareness about how to prevent it. Not everyone who drives drunk needs treatment. But as part of a sentence alcohol treatment can help defendants learn to take responsibility by gaining and maintaining sobriety. A repeat drunk driver who simply goes to prison is likely to do it again someday, no matter the consequences. They’re unlikely to ever drive drunk again if treatment leads to a lifetime of sobriety. Remember, from adversity comes opportunity. I hope you’ll meet with her.”

As a footnote, one of the wrong answers my son gave on his driver’s test was about the legal limit for driving under the influence. “I don’t think I should have to know that, Dad,” Henry said. And why, I asked? “Because you and Mom are in recovery and you’ve told me that any kind of drinking is dangerous, so I don’t plan to do it.”

If only it was that easy. If only the outcome was so certain. ## ]]> http://www.williammoyers.com/blog/default.aspx?BlogID=33 I spoke at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC the other night. It was a remarkable moment for me. There I was, in a national monument of spirituality– “America’s house of prayer for all people” – telling my story of addiction, redemption and recovery. From the floor of a crack house in Atlanta in 1994 to the sanctuary of the cathedral 14 years later; go figure.

Of the several hundred people in the audience were a group of women from N Street Village. It’s a organization dedicated to preventing and eliminating homeless, and it starts by helping women overcome their addiction so that they regain dignity and respect.

I had a chance to meet with some of the women and the staff before the event. It was a potent reminder that recovery is possible even when you lose everything. “N Street not only gave me my life back, but my kids, a job and hope too,” said one woman.

Not everyone’s story is like hers or like mine.

“Dear Mr. Moyers: With all due respect, sir, I can’t relate to your story of addiction. When you hit bottom you still had a wife who loved you, parents who cared for you and a job that supported you even though you were addicted. What do you tell somebody like me? I’m on the streets in Indianapolis when I am not in a homeless shelter. But even in the shelter there are people drunk or dealing drugs. I can’t get a job. I have no idea where my ex-wife is and she’s got our boy whose six. What am I supposed to do? I can’t keep getting high but I can’t seem to stop either. I am 28 and can’t live like this anymore. Art D., Indianapolis, Indiana.”

I wish I had met the women at N Street Village before I got Art’s letter. At the time it was difficult to offer him any advice that reflected a reality that matched his need. He’s right; I had all the advantages when I finally hit a bottom that made me get serious about recovery. From my family to my job to health insurance that paid for most of my treatment at Ridgeview Institute in 1994, I was fortunate. Like Art, too many people in America have nothing when they need help.

But the stories of the women at N Street Village remind me that there is hope.

I don’t know where Art is now. There was no return address on his letter. But this is how I would reply today.

“Dear Art: Although our circumstances were different, the bottom that you and I hit is the same. We were sick and tired of being sick and tired. And so it is the end of the insanity of getting high and the beginning of another chance for people like us. Your obstacles are formidable. But if the women of N Street Village can make it, you can too. It starts with the desire to change your life and the personal conviction that you can. Like you, those women had nothing except that burning desire and conviction to change. They were addicted, lost and did not know where to turn. But they never gave up. And without hope there is no possibility of help. In Indianapolis, Salvation Army Harbor Light offers solid treatment and supportive services like a roof over your head and job counseling. Most of all, it offers you that chance to realize you are not alone. There are so many others just like you and the women I’ve met. No matter who we are, where we come from or what we possess or lack, recovery is possible as long as we believe it is and are willing to do the hard work.”

The women of N Street Village laughed, nodded in agreement, shook their heads in sympathy and shed a few tears during my talk. Seeing their faces in the crowd reassured me that I am not alone. Even though we come from different walks of life the commonality of our experiences with addiction strengthens us in the journey through recovery. If they can make it and I can too, then there is hope for others like Art who still suffer from our disease.

Since then science has made important strides in explaining why one in ten Americans who starts using alcohol eventually becomes addicted. For them, one beer or one glass of wine ends up being one too many. Their lives are disrupted by drunk driving, liver cirrhosis or other health problems, financial instability, shattered families and broken dreams.

Such consequences are a big reason why the public and policy makers still don’t accept the AMA’s view of this chronic illness. Unlike people with other diseases, alcoholics are seen as being weak-willed, immoral, flawed or simply unworthy of sympathy and compassion. No wonder that alcoholics are never viewed sympathetically as “victims” of their disease.

“Dear Mr. Moyers: For 10 years I was married to a man who vowed to love me forever. But last year I discovered he was having an affair with a neighbor. Our kids even play together! No words can describe my pain. I threw him out of the house and told him our marriage was over. Then the other day he came around. He said he had gone to a treatment place because he was an alcoholic. So he’s begging me for another chance. He says his drinking caused the affair. That now he’s a better man and learned a lesson. I hate what he did. But I still want to love him. Part of me wants to try to put it all back together. But I don’t know – what he did really hurt me down deep. Got any ideas? Camilla A., Birmingham, AL.”

“Dear Camilla: Alcoholism is not an excuse. It is an explanation. Whether your husband’s infidelity is due to his drinking isn’t for me to decide. But there is no doubt that people under the influence make decisions and engage in behavior that hurts everyone they love. Learning from his mistakes, making amends for what he did and staying clean and sober are crucial if he is sincere about staying married to you. Your part is to try to forgive him this time. If you can do that, and both of you are committed to on-going marriage counseling and individual therapy, then my sense is that you can make it as a couple. As I’ve learned in my own life, from the adversity of the past comes the opportunities of the future. There is always hope.”

It isn’t just people who don’t understand the disease of alcoholism.

“Dear Mr. Moyers: Our daughter needs help. She admits it. Her husband agrees. Even at work her boss is willing to give her time off to get treatment. But the insurance company won’t pay. They turned her down for in-patient treatment and instead referred her to a out-patient clinic. They say she’s not ‘sick enough.’ But this is a woman who is about to lose everything. By the time she is ‘sick enough’ it’s going to be too late. Can the insurance company do this? Franklin J., Lansing, MI.”

“Dear Franklin: It’s no solace to you, but insurance companies routinely refuse to pay for alcoholism treatment. With cancer or diabetes or hypertension, people usually get the coverage they need to access appropriate treatment for their illnesses. Not so with alcoholism. Most plans set higher thresholds or restrictive limits for treatment. The result is that people like your daughter don’t get what they need or deserve to get well. It’s discrimination. It’s unfair. And while you can appeal the decision to your state insurance commissioner, by the time this is resolved it may be too late for your daughter. You or her husband can pay for her treatment if you have the resources, or maybe he can get a loan. Write your members of Congress, urging them to support legislation to end such discrimination by insurance companies.”

But in the spirit of the end of the year, I’m using this column to look back at the hurts and hopes of 2007and make a prediction for what’s ahead in 2008.

Hurt: to Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears and all those Hollywood celebs who kept doing the same thing over and over again, expecting something different but getting the same result. That’s insanity, and their repeated dashes to and from high-end treatment centers only exacerbated the public’s perception that treatment doesn’t work.

Hope: to “Good Morning America,” CNN and Newsweek magazine, among other media outlets, for looked beyond those Hollywood headlines to explore the truth about addiction, treatment and recovery. Treatment isn’t the end of the story. It’s the beginning. As many of us know, “It works when you work it, but you’ve got to work it.”

Hurt: to communities in places like Minnesota, Florida and Massachusetts that hysterically invoked the stigma of addiction in an effort to make it more difficult for addicts and alcoholics to get back up on their feet in neighborhoods were they live, work and recover.

Hope: to town and city councils in those communities for seeking a reasonable accommodation through closer regulatory scrutiny of so-called “sober housing” without driving addicts and alcoholics away or to the other side of the tracks. Just like their neighbors, people in early recovery need and deserve a safe and healthy place to live, too.

Hurt: to the U.S. Congress, for failing to end decades of discrimination by insurance companies against people who want to use their health care insurance to access addiction treatment services.

Hope: to that same body of legislators for finally taking up the issue this year. The Senate passed a version of “parity” legislation for the first time ever, and the House of Representatives is moving to a vote early in 2008. The challenge will be in resolving key differences in the two bills and getting a lame duck president to sign it.

Hurt: to the pharmaceutical industry for continuing to search for or tout a “cure” for addiction with new medications. Addiction is an illness affecting the mind, body and spirit. Simply taking a pill will never be the magic bullet the drug companies are looking for.

Hope: to researchers and scientists and federal agencies like the National Institute of Drug Abuse for breakthrough studies identifying the brain’s role in fostering addiction. Already those insights are giving treatment programs new opportunities to use pharmacology to reduce the effects of craving in some of their patients.

Hurt: to the success of the failed war on drugs to lock up low level drug offenders. A record 2.2 million people are behind bars in America. At least 60 percent are there because of problems with alcohol or other drugs, and few of them ever get effective treatment.

Hope: to the slow expansion of drug courts and treatment programs behind bars for people whose sentences include getting sober and staying out of trouble. It’s a fact: sobriety usually results in employment, stability at home and fewer crimes.

Finally, in 2007 the federal government estimated that 20 million people were addicted to legal or illegal substances. But only 20 percent ended up treatment. Th rest didn't, either because they didn’t ask for help or could not get it due to a lack of public and private resources. That’s a lot of hurting people, families and communities.

But many others did get help, giving them a chance to start the journey of recovery. There is a lot of hope in their stories. And I predict that in 2008 they will help others find that hope, too.

“Dear Mr. Moyers: I have two children - my daughter is 16 and my son is 14. I am divorced from their father, who works for a program that tries to scare young people about drugs so they won’t use them. I am very concerned that my children are severely frightened by anyone that is known to have ever done any drugs at all - even if they are in recovery. This is a big issue in our house because my new husband’s son, who is 24, got in trouble when he was younger due to substance abuse. He’s clean now, has a baby and is due to get married soon. But when he comes over to visit his dad, my children go into an absolute tirade and huge panic. I am looking for ways that my children can learn and see that people who do or have done drugs are not people to be scared of but rather people who need help and can actually change to become better people who live better lives. I want to teach my children to have an open mind and not be totally black-and-white about human behavior – and addiction. Sincerely, Lisa W., Minneapolis, MN.”

Putting a human face on addiction is the first step in unmasking the stigma.

“Dear Lisa: Kudos for your willingness to educate your own children not just about the problem, but the solution too. The popular image of the alcoholic or drug addict is that of a criminal, a homeless old man living under a bridge, or a person of color other than white hanging out on the street corner across the railroad tracks in the bad part of the neighborhood. But as you are aware, nobody is immune to the ravages of addiction. I urge you to sit down around the table over a meal with your children and your husband’s son and have a conversation about this issue. Face-to-face dialogue often cuts right through the fear and anger to the heart of the matter, and I predict everyone will come away from that meeting feeling more love, respect and understanding for each other. But beyond that, I hope you will arrange for a visit with your kids to a treatment facility in your community. Such programs are easy to find in the phone book or internet. I’m sure that facility will allow you to meet with the patients or observe a group therapy session. Your kids will realize that addicts and alcoholics look like everyone else. Addiction is a bad problem affecting good people.”

A shining example of this can be found at the website for Brighton Hospital in Michigan. (www.brightonhospital.org/Testimonials/Video) Here viewers see real faces and hear real voices of people whose treatment at Brighton has resulted in recovery. These videos also are featured on the YouTube website.

On a national scale, Faces &Voices of Recovery (www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org) is mounting a grassroots effort to encourage people in recovery and their families to stand up and speak out. This non-profit, based in Washington, DC., has organized community-focused rallies, marches and even a presidential town hall meeting last week in New Hampshire. (I’m on FAVOR’s board.)

Addiction doesn’t discriminate. And neither should recovery.

I found that out last month when I attended my high school reunion, class of 1977. Fortunately for me, I didn’t need to do try to encapsulate the last three decades of my life into a succinct sound bite. That’s because many of my classmates had read my memoir and knew my story of addiction and redemption.

Instead, I got rapid-fire questions from former teenagers turned parents who anow grapple with the same generational challenges that faced our parents when we were in high school so long ago.

An old girlfriend, now the mother of two teenage boys, asked me: “How can I tell my sons not to do drugs when I experimented myself back then?”

I replied: “Honesty is the best remedy for ignorance and the truth always trumps denial. As parents, we owe it to our children to tell them that our perspectives as adults are forged from the experiences that were part of our growing up too. If we want them to understand the risks we should be straightforward. Not all the nitty-gritty details details, because you don’t want to scare them or glorify it either. But the power of your advice comes from the reality that you too, have ‘been there and done that.’ I bet you’ll find they are much less inclined to argue with you about it when they know your own perspective.”

A former teammate on our senior football team asked: “The other day my daughter wanted to know if I ever got drunk when we were in school. It flustered me for a moment. I lied and said no, stupid me, I didn’t sound convincing. Should I have been honest instead?”

I reassured my now balding old teammate that his was not a unique experience.

“Alcohol is the most used and abused drug in America, and in our senior year it was legal to drink at 18. Don’t be fooled by today’s 21-year-old threshold; what was true in our day is true today. The fact your daughter even asked you probably means she’s had some encounter with alcohol – either her own or a classmate’s experience. I suspect she’s looking for insight, guidance and perhaps even support. Be honest, and I bet she’ll follow-up with even more questions.”

Near the end of the night, one of my best school friends, who had shared many a good time with a six-pack of beer our senior year, challenged me: “It seems like except for you, most of us got high and drank a lot but then grew up and got away with it. So what’s wrong if my son and his buddies do it too?”

The answer was easy.

“Because today’s generation is using substances that are far more lethal than in our day. Marijuana is ten to 20 times more potent. Cocaine is half the price. Heroin can be smoked or snorted today; no needle is necessary. And so-called ‘club drugs’ like Ecstasy and GHB didn’t even exist in our time. Just because many of our classmates got away with it doesn’t mean our kids will get the same chance. Sure, most of the class of ’77 didn’t end up like me; addicted and in need of treatment. But the point is, they might. And no parent wants their son or daughter to suffer the consequences. What’s different today is that we are the generation that should be able to talk openly and honestly with our children. It’s never too late or too early.”

But my friend wasn’t listening. It was close to midnight, he’d had a bit too much to drink, and it was last call at the bar. Then I realized a lot has changed in the past 30 years. A lot hasn’t changed, either.

Yet these steps are not for everybody.

“Dear Mr. Moyers:

“The whole notion of a ‘Higher Power’ as being part of recovery is too much for me. I’ve been in and out of sobriety for 20 years. Once I even had five years clean. But I always struggle and fall off again because of that ‘God thing’ that’s integral to the 12-steps. Is there a program for somebody like me?” James F., Sparks, Nevada

Dear James:

You’re right; from the get-go the 12-steps challenge people to find a ‘power greater than ourselves’ to help them overcome their addiction. That power is defined as God, even though Alcoholics Anonymous leaves the door upon to an interpretation of a ‘God as we understand God.’ I know that makes it tough for some people, but think of it this way: if your use of alcohol and other drugs caused you unintended consequences that you now seek to halt, then surely they were more powerful than you, right? So push on a a bit further and find a power that is even greater than those substances. Call it hope, a group of people like you or God. But accept that there is a power greater than you that can help you when you cannot help yourself all by yourself.”

That’s my easy answer, but that’s because I’m biased. Once crack cocaine and alcohol drove me to my knees, I was ready not just to believe in a higher power, but to accept that God could do for me what I could not do alone. Get sober in 1994 and stay sober ever since, thanks largely to the 12-steps.

Today I work in the addiction treatment field, where I’ve encountered many other recovery programs and experts like Anne M. Fletcher, a medical journalist and author of the best-selling book, Sober for Good. She interviewed more than 222 former problem drinkers who had, on average, 13 years of sobriety and highlights their stories in her book. I asked her about people like James F.

Says Fletcher: “The are no right or wrong answers in sobriety – people can arrive at the same endpoint in a variety of ways and they may need to ‘shop around’ to find the right fit.”

Fletcher finds that some people like James succeed in programs like Secular Organizations for Sobriety (www.secularsobriety.org) while others went to SMART Recovery (www.smartrecovery.org) – two different abstinence-based groups that don't have a religious or spiritual focus. Another secular group is LifeRing Secular Recovery.

But she is also quick to point out that about two-thirds of the people she studied said they had experienced spiritual growth since resolving their drinking problems. For some, spirituality was quite different than that expressed at AA meetings and, for others, spirituality had nothing to do with their recovery. She also found some AA members who didn't connect with the spiritual side of things yet who benefited from other aspects of the program. Others still, went to AA meetings specifically designed for agnostics and atheists.

Fletcher and I agree: for people like us the key is to hold on for dear life to whatever we find that works.

It happened last week in Mankato, Minnesota, where she had attended college as a nursing student. Friends and family called her a “free spirit” but a serious student too. In tribute, one friend wrote: "It's hard to believe our journey together is over ... I have known you since elementary school (there are so many memories) you were one of my best friends."

She was found unresponsive in her apartment the morning after her night of drinking. According to police, "it appears that alcohol played a significant role in Jax's death," An autopsy is pending.

Of course everyone who knew her is shocked. But should they be? State crime records show that Jax was twice convicted for drunken driving in 2005 and 2006, when she was still too young to drink legally. She had already experienced consequences. But what was her problem? Maybe she was an alcoholic. Maybe not. It can be a fine line determining whether somebody like Amanda Jax is dependent on alcohol, or if what happened to her was the result of alcohol abuse. There is a difference.

The day after her death, I received this email:

Dear Mr. Moyers:

I don’t want to end up like that woman in the newspaper. I am 29-years-old, employed, with a loving wife and a new baby on the way to join our two-year-old son. I don’t really have time or the energy to drink a lot, but when I do I usually drink to get drunk, mostly on wine. I did get a DUI four years ago. I thought I learned a hard lesson, yet even though I haven’t been arrested again since I’ve found myself behind the wheel dirving home six or seven times when I shouldn’t have, once with my baby son in the backseat! It’s not like I feel the need to drink often. I’ve even quit for months at a time. Like I said, though, when I do drink I usually end up getting intoxicated, I wake up with a bad hangover, can’t quite remember what I did the night before, and sometimes miss work Mostly I have a lot of regrets about it. It bothers me. What do you think: do I have a problem, am I an alcoholic and what should I do? Stephen A., Rochester, Minnesota.”

I give this writer credit for his lack of denial.

“Dear Stephen: Of course you have a problem. Anyone who drinks and drives, especially repeatedly and after you got arrested for it, has a problem. The fact that when you drink you usually get drunk, have consequences (hangovers and missing work are obvious red flags, but so is the emotional turmoil that comes with it) and are debating what to do about it, means you’re in trouble. Most people who drink responsibly never ask themselves if they’re alcoholic. But I am not in a position to know for sure if you are. I urge you to seek an assessment from a qualified counselor in your community.”

Most experts identify these basic criteria for alcoholism or dependence:

Continued use in spite of consequences

Drinking larger amounts than planned

A desire or unsuccessful attempts to reduce use

Preoccupation with drinking

A reduction in social, occupation or recreational activities in order to drink

Continued use despite the knowledge of issues or problems

Unlike Stephen, Amanda Jax didn’t get once more chance to turn her life around. Death was her ultimate consequence.