I told him that he’d been spared, most probably, so that he could carry an important message to someone. “What led to the relapse” I asked.

Did you spot the deliberate mistake in my last Churchill Fellowship blog? Of course you did! It was Abraham Lincoln and not George Washington who was assassinated at the Ford Theatre on 16th April! And it was the same Abraham Lincoln, who served as the 16th President of the United States, who successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserved the Union, and ended slavery.

I spent today, 15th November, at the Maryland State-wide Community Forum in the historical town of Annapolis. The Forum, organised by Faces and Voices of Recovery, was intended to highlight instances of discrimination towards individuals in or seeking long-term recovery.

This was the first of four forums that are being held around the country. And Faces and Voices audio-taped the event in order to write a report, using the PIRs’ stories, in order to help educate policymakers and others about changes that need to be made to address these issues and remove barriers.

During the morning session we heard 21 PIRs testify to 4 members of a listening panel, as well as to a packed audience made up of other PIRs (including family members, friends, and allies), professionals and community leaders in the addiction field, business community leaders, representatives from the criminal justice system, and elected officials and policy makers.

The stigmas and/or discriminations highlighted ranged from:

The practise of turning people with co-occurring issues and with no obvious means of support from psychiatric hospitals, out onto the streets. Cindy demanded, “This practise has to change.” This had happened to Cindy’s son 5 years ago resulting in his suicide 2 days later. Cindy identified with what Paul Newman had said following the death of his own son from a similar drugs overdose, “Things change….but you never get over it.”

Then there was Rebecca, who is in her 7th year of recovery, but had been imprisoned for 2 years in 2002 for committing an armed robbery. Like an albatross, this felony had hung around her neck and had made it very difficult for her to find a job of any significance, even though she had changed her life around completely.

Thankfully, Rebecca is now in a worthwhile job (she works for her local church that increased her wages 18% after 12 months) and is studying for a degree at college. But only because her present employer and the university dean were so impressed by her ability and personality that they were prepared to take a risk and put their faith and trust in her.

Unlike Rebecca, the vast majority of PIRs are consigned to do menial, worthless jobs – if they’re lucky. Rebecca’s husband is currently in this unenviable position - his life, seemingly, blighted forever because of a brief aberration, albeit criminal act committed during his early years of addiction.

Rebecca’s heartfelt plea was this: “Addiction is a family and community problem. Please make it a family and community solution.”

Similarly, Anna’s husband had applied for a job in the Fire Department. He was not given the job because of his drug history.

Carol was concerned about the stigma endured by children of alcoholics, even when a parent or parents are in recovery. “These children” she said, “live under ‘no talking’, ‘no feeling’, ‘no thinking’ family rules. They need outside help from specially trained child-care professionals, teachers, etc to teach them how to communicate.

Carol’s own sister died 2 years ago. She died, not from any addiction, but because she couldn’t come to terms with the experiences she’d gone through as a child of an alcoholic.

Robert identified the familiar stigma of “You just could have said ‘no’!” I encountered this stigma myself recently during a BBC Radio Wales interview with the columnist Peter Hitchens from the Mail on Sunday. Addiction to him didn’t exist!

And Wanda felt her daughter was being discriminated against by members of NA, AA and some treatment facilitators because she was receiving medicated-assisted treatment. Indeed, she was once asked to leave an NA meeting because she was deemed to be in active addiction. She also lost her job recently because she tested positive.

According to Donald, access to affordable housing subsidised by the federal government was impossible if you had a criminal conviction. “You’re ineligible”, he said “if either you or a member of your family has a criminal history.” And, of course, the non availability of adequate affordable housing is one of the biggest barriers to recovery.

And so on, and so on. It was a fascinating morning’s session. It’s quite remarkable the power these PIRs exercise when they’re given a voice.

Interestingly, one member of the listening panel was Peter Gaumond, newly appointed chief of the White House Recovery Branch Office of National Drug Control Policy. Yes! Even the White House now has a Recovery branch!

Peter will be responsible for reviewing laws, regulations and policies in the context of the new recovery agenda. As he said, “The culture of recovery used to mean AA recovery. Now, it’s more diverse. And all the energy is coming from the recovery community itself.”

I read in USA TODAY, the daily rag here in America, that the makers of FOUR LOKO, a caffeinated alcoholic drink with an alcohol content of 12%, comparable to five beers and the caffeine equivalent of 5 cups of coffee, has agreed to stop shipments to New York state.

The popular drinks, which comes in several varieties, including fruit punch and blue raspberry, has already been banned in Washington, Michigan, Utah and Oklahoma. This follows reports of several college students being hospitalised after drinking the stuff. The drinks are no longer available in New Jersey either, after one school banned them! And as I arrive in Richmond, Virginia, to visit the McShin Foundation a non-government-funded Recovery Centre, I hear that it’s been banned here as well.

It never ceases to amaze me the extent to which some in the drinks industry will go in order to entrap youngsters into the Hell of addiction.

On Sunday morning I took two Double Decker tours of Washington. The red route took in all the Capital’s main national and civic buildings and monuments and the yellow route concentrated, in the main, on the key hotels. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to get too close to the White House. Besides, Obama was away on a tour of India.

Jean Walker, a volunteer who accompanied Pat Taylor, Executive Director of Faces and Voices of Recovery, and me to the Forum in Annapolis, said that Barrack Obama was being unfairly picked-on by the media and, in particular, by Fox News. “They criticise Obama because he’s can’t walk on water”, she said. “And if he did, they’d say it’s because he can’t swim!”

Most of my Sunday afternoon was spent in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. American history is such a fascinating subject. I wish I had more time to spend here in Washington to absorb some more of its richness and diversity.

I met with two very interesting people on Monday morning, 16th November; Paul Malloy, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford House, Inc., the self-run, self-supported Addiction Recovery Houses, and Johnny Allem, a consultant who has done most things in the recovery field and is driving the DC Recovery Community Alliance, a group of people from all walks of life who want to change the way the District addresses alcohol and other drug prevention, addiction, and treatment.

I thank them for their time and for their stories – in particular Paul Malloy, who has a gift for storytelling and who kept me enthralled for the 90 minutes I spent in his company.

Oxford House is a concept in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. In its simplest form, an Oxford House describes a democratically run, self-supporting and drug free home.

Here are some of Paul’s comments:

“The only time we’re going to stay clean and sober is when we have a good time staying clean and sober.”

“The common bond that kept us together in a half-way house was fighting authority, lights out at 10pm, for example. We fought this rule like crazy. In an Oxford House, the us/them thing had gone, we were now running the show ourselves.”

“A survey showed that 1,200 people had gone through our houses – and the big surprise was that 80% were still clean and sober.”

“From the outset we decided that we weren’t going to own any property, and we were not going to fight over money.”

“When you mix the “has-beens” with the “never-weres” you get the perfect mix: a really integrated house.”

Thanks also to Pat Taylor and Faces and Voiced of Recovery for their wonderful hospitality, and for arranging so efficiently and successfully the Washington part of my Churchill Fellowship.

I’m currently being entertained and spoilt by John Shinholser, Founder and President of the McShin Foundation in Richmond, Virginia. You’ll get to hear more abut this Centre and the wonderful work they do here in my next blog.

I want to tell you about Bill Mac, thought, before I finish today. I met Bill, a licensed substance abuse and treatment practitioner, over a coffee a few hours ago. Bill relapsed after 27 years in recovery. He was at a loss to know why he’d been spared and given another chance. “Most people in long-term recovery die when they relapse”, he said.

I told him that he’d been spared, most probably, so that he could carry an important message to someone. “What led to the relapse” I asked.

“The boundaries between my own recovery and my work as a counsellor became blurred. The latter became more important to me than my own recovery.” he said. “I also became lazy and complacent. I thought I was sorted and could just sit back and relax. Then I had an injury and had to take medication to deal with the pain. I thought I could handle the drugs. I couldn’t and they let to my relapse.”

“That’s the message I and others in long-term recovery needed to hear, Bill”, I said. “And if you hadn’t survived, I would never have heard it.”

So thank you Bill, for giving the kind of giving that has no price-tag on it – the giving of oneself to someone. And that ‘someone’ today was me.

I’m listening to …..no music tonight! I’m staying in John’s home and the conversation between us is taking precedence tonight.

Nos dawch pawb A diolch am ddarllen y blog. Good night everyone. And thanks for reading my blog.


By the way, pretty soon there’ll be information about our Love and Forgiveness Retreat in Trefeca College, Brecon, between 3rd & 5th December. I believe we have room for a further 4 people. If you’re interested, please contact us at info@welshcouncil.org.uk

Our objectives are as follows:

• To create an environment to promote recovery and healing from alcoholism and other addictive illnesses for People in Recovery (PIRs), their families and friends;
• To help identify the issues that prevent people from living life to the fullest;
• To create positive lifestyles through personal responsibility and the release of emotional baggage.

We have attempted to cover every aspect of the weekend for your enjoyment and satisfaction. Our desire is to ensure also that the weekend is inclusive and does not isolate anyone, offend or cause any obstacles.

It is our prayer that this weekend is another landmark and stepping stone in your life’s journey. We hope it is inspirational, challenging and the utmost in fine fellowship. If there is anything that we can help you with over the weekend please do not hesitate to ask and we will do all we can to assist.

We ask you to keep an open mind, relax and enjoy the weekend.

This will be a small retreat of 20 people with the emphasis on love and forgiveness. It’ll be about learning new ways of living and putting the past behind you and living in the present. One of the biggest challenges of living is to live in the now – often guilt and shame from the past and anxiety for the future can leave us stuck in the present.

Good night. Nos dawch.