In the November issue of Renew Magazine there is a
provocative article about advocacy and recovery. Steve Diogo interviews
Christopher Kennedy Lawford. He writes: “To the recovery community, Lawford’s
message is direct and simple: “Get out of your church basements and go do something.”
Here are a couple of other quotes from the article to think
about:
“We need to know the science
of addiction…and it doesn’t just apply to alcohol and drug addiction. We all
know that addiction is a brain illness, and if someone has an alcohol issue
they probably have a sex issue, probably have a gambling issue or an eating or
shopping issue as well.”
“The American Cancer
Society raises over a billion dollars each year to fight cancer. Cancer costs
our nation one-third of what addiction costs, but you know how much we raise?
Twenty million. That’s all you need to know. We need to get visible. We need to
write checks. We need to create a recovery community. We need to create a
recovery economy.”
This isn’t a brand new idea. Bill Wilson knew that recovery
from alcoholism needed a public side and needed people who could put public
words and faces to the issue. That’s why he was instrumental in creating The
National Council on Alcoholism. There was AA—personal, anonymous and taking no
position on outside issues, and The National Council that could educate, communicate
and lobby.
But what do we do now? And how much does new technology and
social media push this question? What do you think?
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