Just a short research note. Most people will say that driving after alcohol use is a bad thing to be avoided. However, many marijuana users that I have talked to over the years will say driving under the influence of marijuana is ok and not a big deal. A recent study summarized in ScienceDaily of March 01, 2013, notes that previous research has established that cannabis users are 10 times more likely to be injured in car crashes. This study found that marijuana can be detected in the blood of daily users up to 30 days after last use. The suggestion is that impairment in chronic marijuana users may be evident weeks after their last use. These data may be used to develop per se laws about impairment from marijuana use similar to the laws currently on the books making a certain blood level of alcohol a per se violation; for example,  proof of a blood level of alcohol of .08 is all that is required for a conviction of alcohol impairment. As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams, 03/06/2013.

From time to time I will publish guest blog posts. Here is one:

Why is recovery THE answer?

– Sandy Fifield

Despite my experience with recovery and the 12 Steps, when difficulties arise I still occasionally catch myself falling into old thought patterns. Some of those thoughts are a gut level emotional response to the situation. Some are my attempt to find a quick solution to a problem. Neither is particularly productive nor useful. Fortunately, my experience with recovery helps me find my way through those uncomfortable moments back into the light. Three things disrupted my lovely, tranquil world early last year, each devastating in its own way.

While a friend and I discussed her fifteen-year-old daughter’s addiction problem, my immediate temptation was to think that this was unique and different, a special problem that needed to be dealt with in an extraordinary manner. I thought—there must be some kind of therapy, magic medication or miracle action which could fix the problem once and for all. Rescue and fix—that’s the answer.  These thoughts raced through my head and I’m sure through her parents’ minds as well. How can we make the problem just go away?

My husband, Bill, was complaining about a floater in his eye that had been there for nearly a month affecting his vision as he was trying to finish a large wood carving. His balance and driving skills were rapidly deteriorating along with his peripheral vision. Off to the emergency room where we discovered a brain tumor and possible lung cancer.  This all started on Monday and by Friday he was in surgery to remove an egg-sized tumor from his optic nerve. Life was looking rather bleak—these are not things I would ask for.  These are gifts wrapped in barbed wire. Surely, this is unique and special? What can I do to fix it?

In late March my dear friends lost their beautiful mountain home in a sudden and devastating wildfire. It began as a controlled, considered safe and contained since it had been conducted nearly two weeks prior, in winter––albeit an unusually dry winter. Tragically, a few deep pockets of embers flared during the windstorm that blew through that day. What is to be done when everything is gone—all the material stuff? Isn’t this the worst thing ever? How do we make this better? In truth, there is no magic to keep “bad” things from happening or to “fix it” when they do, but there is something that helps in every difficult situation. I look to the teachings of Recovery.

Why is recovery THE answer?

Recovery tells me that my attitude is the only thing I can change and therefore is the only thing I am responsible for. The 12 Steps give me a way to change my attitude, although seeing what my real habitual attitudes are can be painful and humiliating. Step Nine is to take responsibility for my past actions by admitting that they have harmed and disturbed others in my life. Ironically, these are often things that hurt me more than they have anyone else, and revisiting them is equally painful. I don’t want to tell you that as my friend struggled with her daughter’s addiction, I thought, She at least got to have kids; if that were my daughter, I would have handled it differently – in other words, perfectly! I don’t want you to know that when Bill was diagnosed with a brain tumor and lung cancer, my first thought was, He’s losing weight and I’m not! I don’t want to admit that when my friends’ house burned my thought was, They get a new house, what about me?

I share my innermost thoughts and feelings many times in 12 Step fellowship meetings.  It sure is comforting to know that others in the room have at times thought, felt, and behaved just like I have. Yes, the old, habitual ways of thinking are still there – the petty focus on myself, the desire for a quick fix. But, I no longer simply have to live with the most unattractive parts of myself. The 12 Steps give me a way to recognize and accept those parts because without acceptance there can be no change. With acceptance, I can change my attitude and, ultimately, my thinking and my behavior. Like the old Chinese proverb “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” the Steps teach me a way to deal with the uncertainties of the universe, my human condition, and the lie that constantly tries to invade my life. They teach me how to fish.

The beginnings of the change in my thinking are detailed in our book “Dig Deep in One Place,” but the change continues today as I journey on this great adventure finding out who I can be if I just stop believing the lies of the habits of a lifetime. http://www.digdeepinoneplace.com/

Author Bio:

Bill and Sandy Fifield are passionate artists, authors and speakers. Their life together began as an equal artistic partnership that was eventually transformed by addiction, alcoholism and co-dependence. Ultimately, however, their path led them to a place of happy, joyous freedom. In 1992 when recovery entered their lives, they enthusiastically threw themselves into helping others. Their book, “Dig Deep in One Place: A Couple’s Journey to a Spiritual Life,” was written to share their experience with addiction in hopes of bringing strength to all who read it.

As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams. 02/25/2013.

Just a brief research note. A recent research study summarized here, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases, supports the old notion that it may be a danger to early recovery from alcoholism to try to stop smoking. Basically, the researchers found that study participants who were trying to stop smoking and had cravings to smoke, had stronger urges to drink alcohol. Thus, to quote from the article: "higher, more volatile smoking urges were reported before the individual actually began drinking, suggesting that alcohol consumption may have been in response to smoking urges rather than vice versa." Back in the day, treatment programs made no effort to address nicotine addiction in patients in treatment for their alcoholism because it was thought, based on anecdotal information, that addressing smoking would take the focus off the "primary" problem, alcoholism. Besides, most of the counselors and other treatment staff smoked themselves. So, now there is some science to support the feeling that it may be dangerous to early alcoholism recovery to try to address nicotine addiction. As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams, 02/21/2013.

Just a brief research update. ScienceDaily recently reported on a research study presented at a conference of the American Stroke Association, that suggests that marijuana use may double the risk of stroke in young adults. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130206131042.htm? Here is a quote from an author of the study conducted in New Zealand: "Cannabis has been thought by the public to be a relatively safe, although illegal substance. This study shows this might not be the case; it may lead to stroke." While we are talking not about proof of causation but about correlation, this research does confirm my experience that no drug that has beneficial effects is without side effects, including good old weed. As always comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams, 02/07/2013.

I will suggest in this entry some tools that you can use on a daily basis to be drug and alcohol free that can become a part of your own personal recovery program. Consider setting aside a quiet time every morning to focus on the fact that you are in recovery and to make a conscious commitment to yourself each morning to be abstinent from drug or alcohol use for that day. If appropriate for you, add a request (prayer) to your source of spiritual strength for the ability to be clean and sober that day. At night before retiring for the day, take a few minutes for some quiet time to review the day. If you have not picked up an alcoholic drink or a drug, you can be grateful for that miracle regardless of whatever negative or positive events that have occurred. It is indeed a miracle for an addict or alcoholic to get through a day without using. Again, if appropriate, add a thanks to your source of spiritual strength for a day of abstinence. These daily disciplines on awakening and before sleeping can become basic recovery tools for you. As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams 01/30/2013