In conjunction with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month in September, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) launched a new national survey to find out what Americans really think about addiction, abuse, and the possibility of recovery. Given the fact that there is always a bit of room for error on these things, I still love to read them, to find out what people think… or say that they think, anyway.

A Real Life Crisis That No One Likes To Talk About

Friends and families of recovering addicts are deeply affected by the chaos, turmoil, and heartbreak that accompany the path of rehabilitation. Yet you probably won’t hear them talking about it very often – if at all.

This is exactly why a survey of this caliber is needed. What are the attitudes of the general public in regards to substance abuse and the effectiveness of prevention and treatment programs? If you were to listen to the silence alone, the answer might seem very dismal.

The Survey Says…

The majority of Americans interviewed say they are sympathetic to those struggling with addiction and that they have confidence that prevention and treatment efforts really do work.

Acting SAMHSA Administrator Eric Broderick is elated, “These results are encouraging and offer hope to everyone affected by substance abuse problems. The survey shows that the American people believe that prevention and treatment efforts make a real difference in addressing this public health challenge and improving lives.”

Other equally notable results of the survey include the following:

• Number of people who would think less of a person for being in recovery – fewer than one-fifth (about 18 percent)
• Percentage of people who would feel comfortable being friends or co-workers with a person in recovery – 66 percent and 63 percent respectively
• 70 percent of young adults (age 25-34) believe addicts in recovery can successfully live productive lives, compared with 51 percent of older Americans (age 65 and over)
• An average of 51 percent of respondents said they would feel comfortable living next door to someone who was in recovery for drug or alcohol abuse

Going through rehab yourself is one thing. But it’s something else entirely when it’s someone else. How would you feel if you found out that your doctor were in treatment? Your child’s teacher? Your teacher?

Kids don’t learn everything they need to know about life in school. It’s up to parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, pastors and other adults involved in a child’s life to spread the word about important lessons kids need know in order to understand how to function in the world.

Teachable moments – those brief, spontaneous periods of time when individuals are most open to collecting wisdom. They really are all around us, at almost any given time, in any imaginable place; you just have to keep your eyes and ears open to what your child is paying attention to at the moment.

Silence is Acceptance When It Comes to Drug and Alcohol Use

When your kids learn that their favorite actress, sports star, or musician has been arrested for drunk driving or is in rehab trying to kick their drug habit again, saying nothing sends a strong signal that these behaviors are alright with you.

Speaking up and voicing your concern about using drugs and alcohol, citing the risks and the inherent dangers of intoxication may be the only voice of reason your kids hear about these things.

If You’re Not Talking about Drugs and Alcohol, Celebrity Conduct Speaks for You

Sensationalism sells when it comes to the tabloids. It turns a deadly habit into a glamorous pastime – is that the message you want your kids to get out of reading about it?

Talk with them about what they’re seeing in the magazines or hearing on the news, just like you would talk to your spouse or adult friends. Kids need to know that what they see or hear from the media isn’t the only way to live their life.

Ask Your Kids What Their Views of Drugs and Alcohol Are Before You Bash Them

Idolizing a particular celebrity that has a drug or alcohol problem may not mean much to your child – then again, it might. Overbearing criticism of his choices in role models or outlook on drug use won’t get you anywhere, though.

Take the time to ask what he thinks about a movie character with an alcohol addiction or rap star who promotes drug use. If he seems unconcerned or laidback about it, don’t attack his viewpoint. Teachable moments take advantage of educational opportunities to impart little known truths. Stick with the facts.

If you’re not sure about specific facts or comfortable enough to take the conversation to the next level, visit your local library and check out books about drugs and alcohol use, biographies and documentaries about addicts, rehab, treatment centers, and the like. Start a family book club and discuss what you read about. Allowing children to form and express their own opinions while being open to hearing yours brings a sense of mutual respect to a family – and gives you something interesting to talk about at the dinner table.

Does waiting to discuss drugs and alcohol until kids start asking questions make more sense or less sense to you than being proactive about the subject? How did you learn about drugs and make the decision to use or not?

It seems that censorship has come to YouTube recently and the focus this time is on videos that depict drug use or even just drugs. It seems only natural that this call to crack down on drug abuse videos follow Senator Joe Lieberman’s call for a ban of terrorist training videos on YouTube since terrorism and drug abuse are often found holding hands in the political arena.

YouTube Tries to Heed the Call

It’s got to be hard. YouTube is no small site with no small number of videos being uploaded every minute and moderating this unwieldy vehicle must be an insane task. But they’re trying: there is now a ban on YouTube videos that contain “drug abuse.” Unfortunately, the term “drug abuse” does not lend itself well to easy interpretation, so the practice of following this directive may or may not be successful. The hope here, I’m assuming, is that YouTube users will flag content that goes against the new regulations.

Chris Dale is a spokesperson for YouTube. He says, “It’s a combination of users policing the site and [the working of] our proprietary tools and technology that review videos 24 hours a day. If we come across content that does violate those guidelines as we clearly laid them out, we’ll take them down.”

Vague = Inconsistent

Being vague in your policy can serve you in that it’s hard to argue with. For example, one video may be taken down based on the new ban against drug abuse in videos while another remains untouched. Maybe the first was flagged by YouTube users and the other wasn’t. Maybe it happened to be caught during a random check of the site while the other one didn’t. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Say, for example, that a video explicitly shows how to cook heroin and shoot it… but ends with the person overdosing with an anti-drug abuse caption or voiceover. Does this video get yanked under the new guidelines? Maybe. 

But maybe heroin abuse is a bit too stark of an example. What about alcohol? It’s legal to drink as long as you’re 21 but illegal to be drunk in public or drive while under the influence. So videos depicting drunken debauchery at a high school shindig, that’s a no but adults getting wasted over a poker game, that’s okay? And what about this new drug: salvia. It’s a plant in the mint family and it’s not yet illegal to possess it, sell it or smoke it, but videos about its effects when smoked are viral at this point and if the hype is any indication, it soon will be illegal. And what about medical marijuana? The questions go on and on.

What Do You Think?

Personally, I don’t like censorship. I’d rather people have the information they want or need as long as it is correct. Since when is ignorance bliss, especially when it comes to drug information? What do you guys think?