Addiction – Substance Use Disorders – Families – We Recover | We Vote
Addiction – Substance Use Disorders – Families. We Recover | We Vote and We are Facing Addiction!
WE are the more than one-hundred million Americans who are either living their lives in long-term recovery from addiction (aka Substance Use Disorders) OR the family and friends whose lives were devastatingly changed trying to help loved ones seek, find, and succeed in recovery. And WE are a force for change!
Here’s what I’m talking about…
Caucuses for Addiction Solutions at the Upcoming DNC and RNC Conventions!
Caucus for Addiction Solutions at the Republican National Convention on July 19, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Sponsored by Facing Addiction. Click on the image to go to the FB page and sign up to Caucus!
Caucus for Addiction Solutions at the Democratic National Convention on July 26, 1 – 3:00 p.m. Sponsored by Facing Addiction. Click on the image to go to the FB page and sign up to Caucus!
The Republican National Convention happens this coming week-end, July 18-21, and the Democratic National Convention follows in two weeks on July 25-28. And for the first time, ever, those in the recovery movement will be holding caucuses for addiction solutions. If you’ve been involved in this movement as long as I have – you’re as thrilled as I am at this accomplishment by Facing Addiction, a national non-profit demanding solutions to the addiction crisis. Who could have imagined such a thing less than a year ago! And not only imagine Caucuses at the DNC and RNC, but to image that in just this past year and a half:
- the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) would be on it’s way to the President’s desk for signature;
- the Senate would unanimously confirm the appointment of Michael Botticelli, a person in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder for more than 26 years, as Director of National Drug Control Policy at the White House;
- the U.S. Surgeon General would issue these remarks at the UNITE to Face Addiction Rally on The Mall on October 4, 2015, “We’re going to stop treating addiction as a moral failing, and start seeing it for what it is: a chronic disease that must be treated with urgency and compassion…which is why I’m proud to announce that next year, I will be releasing the first-ever Surgeon General’s Report on substance use, addiction, and health.”
- tens of thousands of Americans from across the country would gather to “end the silence” at the Unite to Face Addiction Rally in Washington, D.C., on October 4, 2015; and
- over 760 partnering organizations, representing some 15 million Americans, would be working together to create the Facing Addiction Advocacy Network Advocacy Agenda.
And the best part of all, there are millions more and…
We Recover | We Vote – We are a Force for Change – Addiction Substance Use Disorders Families
We Recover | We Vote! I was proud to carry this placard at the Unite to Face Addiction Rally on The Mall, October 4, 2015, and proud to celebrate 12 years recovery last year – in my case, recovery from secondhand drinking – the physical, emotional, and quality of life impacts I’d experienced in my fight to help my loved ones get help and succeed in recovery. For more on my story, click on the photograph.
I am so grateful to be one of the “We.” We are:
- the more than 23 million Americans who are living their lives in recovery for substance use disorders (aka addiction), and
- the 100 million Americans who are the family members of those whose lives are shattered by addiction and whose own lives are equally, devastatingly changed.
- that addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease
- that addiction is an entirely treatable disease and there is no one-size-fits all method for treating this disease, nor does relapse mean treatment failed – rather it means treatment needs to be modified
- that when the key risk factors for developing this disease are understood and/or treated or prevented — early use, mental illness, social environment, genetics and childhood trauma — the success and effectiveness of our treatment, intervention and prevention efforts increase dramatically
- that family members need help understanding this disease and understanding what has happened to their own physical and mental health so they may seek their own treatment and thereby live healthier lives and better help their loved ones who struggle with addiction and/or support their loved ones living in recovery
- that those with addiction and the family members who are touched by it both need comprehensive health care coverage and access to and understanding of effective recovery options for their specific needs.
Bottom Line
Lisa Frederiksen
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