Doug Thorburn, addiction expert, addiction contrarian and author of the recently released
Alcoholism: Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society?s Most Destructive Disease, has a number of interesting Runners Up to Story of the Month. The Story of the Month was about Phillip Garrido and his wife, who kidnapped, imprisoned, brain-washed and sexually abuse 14-year old Jaycee Dugard. The Runners Up to Story of the Month include a variety of interesting celebrities such as Dr. Dre and DJ AM, politicians like Sarah Palin and Joe Wilson and such upstanding citizens as Kanye West or five actresses from a TV show who were dangling from a bridge,
NICE!! Here are the Runners Up to Story Month in the October 2009 Thorburn Addiction Report:
http://www.preventragedy.com Read Doug Thorburun?s Top Story of the Month:
Runners-up for top story of the month:
Celebrity disc jockey Adam ?DJ AM? Goldstein, 36, found dead with eight undigested OxyContin pills in his stomach and a ninth in his mouth, along with cocaine, hydrocodone (Vicodin), Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax, Benadryl and Levamisole (a drug use to cut cocaine) in his system. Goldstein was famous for spinning records for as much as $25,000 for a three-hour set at some of the world?s most exclusive parties, including private events for Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Stiller. Throughout his early 20s he struggled with drugs and his weight, reaching 300 pounds before getting sober and undergoing gastric by-pass surgery. After surviving a fiery Learjet crash barely a year ago on the runway of a South Carolina airport, which claimed the lives of two other passengers and left him with second- and third-degree burns, he decided to devote his life to helping other addicts recover. A month ago he told reporters, ?There?s no reason why I should have lived or why I lived and they didn?t. I?m alive and I?m here and I have another chance. So I have to do something better with my life this time.? Goldstein was recently working on an MTV show, ?Gone Too Far,? in which he helped concerned families stage interventions. He told reporters the show provided a ?terrifying? reminder of his own addiction. Indeed.
Representative Henry ?Hank? Johnson, whose idiotic remarks regarding Joe Wilson yelling "You lie!" at Obama during a Congressional speech with the implication that we're all racists can be viewed here. As I watched, it suddenly dawned on me: Johnson appears to be under the influence.
Since I am not an expert at identifying someone under the influence based strictly on physical clues, I queried a prominent retired LAPD Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) police officer. DREs can often determine which drugs and how much are in someone?s system simply by observing the person. He responded: "He definitely appears to be under the influence of a drug or drugs. The basis for this opinion includes his rambling non-sensical speech, stumbling over words, new word 'insticated' (sic) and white visible around the eyes until he blinks, which are prolonged. He smacks his lips, indicating dryness and there is a flat affect (his demeanor wasn?t at all animated and he spoke in somewhat of a monotone). A number of drugs could be on board. I suspect a stimulant that might be wearing off and depressants, such as Valium, are likely"
It fits right in with the idea that since addiction can cause confabulated thinking, where such thinking appears we need to look for addiction. Consider this when listening to demagoguery or pablum. You just might find an explanation for what seems inexplicable to the rational-minded. But no, I cannot explain former President Jimmy Carter.
In a Vanity Fair tell-all, Levi Johnston, estranged father of Sarah Palin?s grandchild Tripp, writes that Sarah?s husband Todd Palin often brought up divorce to the former Vice-Presidential candidate in screaming matches?and that he hid his drinking from Sarah. While one addict accusing another of one of the classic behavioral attributes of alcoholism?hiding the booze?is not something we?d normally rely upon, when published in a magazine of the stature of a Vanity Fair, the odds of its veracity are high. In the last TAR?s ?co-dependent of the month,? I wrote in regards to Sarah?s resigning as Alaska?s governor: ?When something doesn?t make sense, addictionologists know that addiction likely lurks just beneath the surface.? I then identified as likely addicts Daughter Bristol, Bristol?s estranged boyfriend (Levi), and Levi?s mother Sherry. It didn?t dawn on me that the person closest to Sarah could also be an addict. As I wrote too, ?Addiction sheds light on the behaviors of many politicians. The behaviors of many non-addicted politicians could be explained by an addict or two nearby.? Very nearby, with multiple addicts enabling each other is the best explanation of all.
Former major league pitcher Matt Keough, 54, also known for his role in ?The Real Housewives of Orange County,? charged with felony DUI. It?s his second felony count of DUI within 10 years, making him eligible for three years behind bars. With a blood alcohol level of .30 per cent, he was driving his car at 1:25 pm (yes, in the middle of the afternoon) when he ran a stop sign. He was previously arrested for violating probation, which required that he not consume any alcohol (he was consuming alcohol). Since this is going to be a continuing problem, Matt, you might ask the judge for an ankle bracelet after your prison stint, so you can stay away from all bars.
Buford O. Furrow, Jr., renouncing his white-supremacist views and expressing ?deep remorse? on the tenth anniversary of having murdered a Filipino postman and wounded five Jewish people at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, California (one mile from my office). At his sentencing in 2001 he blamed mental illness for his actions. In a letter to The Daily News, he wrote, ?About 5 years ago I threw away my racist books, literature, etc. and took up a new leaf.? Furrow didn?t say what caused the change, nor did The Daily News speculate.
Maybe he got sober.
Shooting victims and relatives expressed surprise and speculated about his motives.
Maybe he was an addict who got sober and wants to do what little he can to pay amends.
Others said the focus shouldn?t be on him; it should remain on what he did and how such crimes can be prevented. Maybe if we focus on getting racists sober, we?ll prevent many of these crimes. Myth # 65 in Alcoholism Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society?s Most Destructive Disease is ?He?s no alcoholic; he?s just a racist.? As pointed out in the text, statistics about alcoholism are hard to come by when practicing addicts don?t identify themselves as such. However, anecdotally, there are practically zero incidents of racism in modern society in which substance addiction is absent. If able to dig deep enough, you?ll usually find it.
While Buford Furrow doesn?t say he got sober and The Daily News failed to mention addictive use of alcohol or any other drug, or even that he ever used, the addictionologist would immediately suspect that addiction explains (but does not excuse) Buford?s life and the tragedy that unfolded. Addictive use of drugs is rarely mentioned in media reports. It took five days, 13 articles and 28 paragraphs into the last piece before finding that anthrax killer Bruce E. Ivins had been in rehab twice the year before his suicide (read about it in the August 2008 TAR top story). While proof of use in the case of Buford Furrow is similarly elusive, in October 1998 he was reportedly suicidal and on a drinking binge when arrested for threatening hospital workers with a knife. Where drinking coexists with violence, there is almost no question about the diagnosis and, therefore, the cure.
Rapper Kanye West, who leaped on stage (notably, with sunglasses on in a theater), ripped the microphone from the hands of the winner of the Best Female Video category in the MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift, and declared that his friend Beyonce should have won. What could possibly have caused West to go berserk? How about: he was seen on the red carpet before his outburst swigging cognac from a half-full bottle, which reportedly started out full. West made a rambling apology to Swift the next night on ?The Jay Leno Show,? and told Leno he?s been working hard and hopes to take some time off soon and figure out what he?s going to do with the rest of his life. Message to Kanye: your mother died from complications of surgery. The surgeon was Dr. Jan Adams, who has a couple of DUI arrests on his record, as well as at least three malpractice lawsuits, which could be related to his likely alcoholism. Your mother may have died because Dr. Adams performed a procedure that more sober-minded doctors refused to do. In your mother?s memory, how about trying sobriety? Addicts often say they had to get sober for themselves. Nonsense. Addicts often get sober for others. You can do this for your mother, Kanye.
Under watch:
Five actresses from the CW?s ?The Vampire Diaries,? arrested in Georgia for dangling from the side of a bridge and exposing their breasts to passing motorists. A Sheriff?s deputy spokeswoman (we?ll pass on the obvious jokes about ?under watch? and ?spokeswoman,? not ?spokesman?) said that ?one girl was holding another girl?s ankles and hanging her over the bridge like she was going to drop her.? Nina Dobrev, 20, Sara Canning, 22, Kayla Ewell, 24, Krystal Vayda, 23 and Candice Accola, 22, were arrested along with cameraman Tyler Shields, whose footage confirmed (to the spokeswoman) several dozen drivers? accounts of the escapades. The idea that none of the above may have been sober is supported by the fact that Canning later hung up on a reporter, Accola referred calls to a publicist who could not be reached and the others did not return phone calls from reporters. (If they?d been sober and this was a publicity stunt, I strongly suspect they wouldn?t have hesitated to speak out publicly.) But only the future history of these young lives will confirm or disprove our suspicions. We hope they live long enough for there to be a future history.
Raymond Clark lll, 24, charged with murder in the killing of graduate student Annie Le, also 24. He may suffer from some disease or disorder that would put the murders in the possible 10-20% of horrific behaviors rooted in something other than alcoholism?but still, Mr. Clark should remain under watch until alcoholism, with or without any other disorder, is disproven.
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