NCJ Number
170952
Date Published
1998
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Nine men and women, all recovering from drug and/or alcohol addiction, talk about the reasons for and effects of their addiction.
Abstract
The recovering addicts represent a cross-section of educational and socioeconomic levels. They include a former narcotics agent now recovering from a cocaine habit; a marketing specialist and mother of three children; a former addict and founder of Stand Up Harlem, a community of HIV-positive addicts and recovering addicts; and a journalist who served as the researcher for this video series. For all the recovering addicts, their drug use began as a way of achieving a more satisfying or pleasurable state of mind. In order to maintain the desired state of mind, however, their repetitive drug use made them less capable of functioning reliably and productively in their jobs and relationships. Consequently, their drug use led them to disastrous economic and social conditions that included criminal behavior, divorce, and unemployment or underemployment. They note that the incentive to enter treatment occurs only when the drug use produces such devastating and destructive life conditions that treatment designed to achieve a drug-free life is more desired than the drug. The difficulty of maintaining this commitment is also discussed. For other videos in this series, see NCJ-170948-51.