When I read my letter in the paper [Sept. 29 South Peace News], I realized the need to add some things.

First, we are extremely fortunate to live in an area where things are relatively peaceful. We do not have any of the problems that haunt other places in the world to the degree that they exist elsewhere. The locals seem to behave in a fairly reasonable fashion, perhaps because they are held accountable for the things they do, and ASIRT’s decisions are published.

There are other organizations that need to be held to this fire. It inspires trust on the part of the public and knowing that their feet will be held to the fire can be conducive of good behaviour from its members.

The main reason I am writing is I felt I needed to clarify some of the things I said about addiction.

First, most of the empty cupboards I have seen were not the result of addiction but of poverty. There are times when there is way more month than money. No amount of skillful budgeting, and self restraint can fix that. The local food bank is a Godsend for many people.

Addiction? I came across a Ted Talk by Claudia Christian [actress – Babylon 5 for one] detailing her struggle with alcohol. They have many excellent ones. She and most others do not advocate getting tough on addicts and telling them how awful they are, and what horrible things they are doing to themselves and the people around them.

They know. Getting the monkey off your back is a far different matter than putting $5 in the kitty instead of putting it in the addiction.
Anyone who has ever gone on a diet knows how frustrating it is to try and go straight. Most diets, and attempts at stopping smoking, or shopping, or gambling, or thinking addictively, do not last very long.

We get into these habits without realizing what we are doing. Then the way out is kind of harsh much of the time. It takes a great deal of self reflection, hope for a better life, and moral support from those around you.

How that support comes to you is a matter for you to choose. AA, prayer, medication, therapy, any and all of above. Anyone who has tried ‘self control’ as the only solution knows that this is the easiest way to let something rent space in your mind. It will soon own you.

If you think I am exaggerating, trust me, I am likely older than you are and I know about these things.

Knowing who the addicts are … good luck with that one. It is easy to point to a homeless person and say, “That one!” Maybe, maybe not! Addicts can come in some pretty flashy wrappings.

There was a young pharmacist who came to grief for ‘subverting’ thousands of pills. He insisted he took them all himself, possibly to avoiding a trafficking charge. No one associated with him guessed. He said he would plan his binges, but the number of pills he was claiming to have taken a day…

He is, however, one of the people whose life is marked marred by a chink in the armour that many of us carry.

When it first entered our DNA it was likely an advantage for our survival. In this modern age with those elements our bodies are seeking and are getting refined and twisted to the point they pull the whole system out of balance. That is not a weakness in our character, that is a survival mechanism that is being warped into something else.

I bought a science magazine the other day that was talking about genetic mutations and how much they can affect our responses to codeine.
Hopefully, as time passes and our understanding of these issues increases, we will be able to help those in need better than we can now.

But in the meantime consider them, and ourselves, the walking wounded. Everyone has a monkey on their back.
Eva Sartorius,
High Prairie.