April
Sub-archives
In Search of NA Part IV: Narcotics Anonymous Goes Worldwide in the 1970s
By the beginning of the 1970s, Narcotics Anonymous had established itself as a reputable organization that offered a program of recovery for individuals who were addicted to drugs other than alcohol. read more...
Response to Naltrexone Segment by Sanjay Gupta on CNN
We've been treating alcoholism and addiction at our rehab center using medications like Naltrexone and Suboxone since their inception. While we feel that CNN's Special Addiction: Life on the Edge was a positive and informative program, some of the claims made in a segment about Naltrexone were misleading. read more...
In Search of NA Part III: Narcotics Anonymous in the Sixties
The sixties were a time of radical social change in America. Along with this climate of change came a cultural curiosity about of drug use and a more tolerant attitude toward drug abuse. The counter cultural movement that was spurred on by the British Invasion and led to the Summer of Love caused many Americans to experiment with drugs like Hallucinogens and marijuana. Many of these curious drug users became addicted to more sinister opiate and methamphetamine based drugs became incarcerated instead of getting the help that NA had to offer. All of these factors actually had a negative effect on the size of the NA fellowship in the early 1960s. read more...
Heroin Hits Home - Review of A&E's Documentary - OxyContin Recovery Stories
I recently had the pleasure of watching a good documentary brought to us by AnE (as part of their Intervention series). The documentary was entitled: In Depth: Heroin Hits Home and takes a look at the effect that heroin is having on the city of Boston by interviewing some individuals whose lives have been drastically affected by the drug. Donnie Wahlberg narrated the documentary. read more...
In Search of NA Part II: Jimmy K Starts Narcotics Anonymous in LA
Jimmy K continued his involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous and continued setting up meetings that focused on recovery from addiction to drugs. Unfortunately these gatherings had gotten the attention of law enforcement authorities who operated under the assumption that a gathering of drug users and convicted felons was bound to lead to illegal activity. read more...
In search of NA Part I: Early History of Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous recently released the 6th edition of its text: Being that Orange County has a very active NA community that mixes in with the rooms of AA that I frequent, I heard some of the excitement about the new edition of the text. I decided that I wanted to learn more about the writings, history, and tradition of NA… read more...
The Origin of April Fools Day
The origin of April Fool's Day seems to be a bit of a mystery. The Encyclopedia Britannica states "that although it has been observed for centuries in several countries, the origin of the custom is unknown. It resembles other festivals, such as the Hilaria of ancient Rome (March 25) and the Holi festival of India (ending March 31). Its timing seems related to the vernal equinox (March 21), when nature "fools" mankind with sudden changes in the weather. read more...
