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Dear Dr. Bill,
I have just seen the movie, "Traffic."
It certainly rang true for me as a drug counselor ...particularly
the part about the incumbent Drug Czar's daughter who
was shooting up in their bathroom without his knowledge
and, later, when picked up for possession and use of cocaine,
told a disbelieving social worker that she was a straight
A student and a member of the soccer team at a local prestigious,
prep-school. Most Bergen County parents may doubt that
this could happen here. Well, they better believe it!
I have been working in this field for a long time and
it never stops amazing me: The more affluent the population,
the less involved the family. The war on drugs begins
and ends with us...and our children.
I found the film moving, frightening and
right on target. It was good to see that treatment emerged
as one of the film's few heroes as the new drug czar ,
his wife and daughter are shown near the conclusion taking
part in an AA meeting .....that promises hope for recovery.
Treatment Counselor
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Dear Counselor,
I also saw the film and was deeply moved. One of
its most important messages was the need to focus on what's
going on in our own homes and communities before we start
taking on the big cartels. I challenge every parent and
each of our political leaders to see this film. If they
do, it should leave them with a sincere and profound caring
for all of our kids and especially for those who have
become harmfully involved. If it doesn't...shame!
Stephen Gaghan, the Oscar nominee screenwriter
of "Traffic," said he used his past experience
with addiction to develop the characters and situations
for the movie. In an interview for The Times, he said,
"Part of the recovery process is a commitment to
truth, and I began to feel that I was not being truthful,"
said Gaghan. "The stigma and shame of drug addiction
is part of what makes it difficult for people to raise
their hand and ask for help, and I felt that by not being
completely honest I was, in a way, perpetuating that stigma."
Now sober for three and a half years, Gaghan said, "It's
time to come clean about my past." Adding, "The
resume I had the girl reciting was mine exactly, at a
time when I was drinking, smoking marijuana and taking
cocaine every day while still maintaining high grades
and membership on the all-state soccer team." He
said his long, slow descent into a life of addiction included
20 to 30 arrests over the years for misdemeanor offenses.
It wasn't until a weekend in July 1997, while totally
out of control ,that he realized he had to change his
life or die. " I just hit that place, that total
incomprehensible demoralization. That was the end of it;
up five days straight, locked in the bathroom, convinced
there was nowhere else to go, I wanted to kill myself.
I just couldn't take another minute of it." He continued:
"There was one person I knew who had stopped doing
drugs, and his life seemed to be getting so much better.
So at the end of that five-day weekend I just picked up
the phone and called him. And he helped me."
Can Traffic change the American public's
(or its political leaders') views about our present approach
to the still pervasive drug problem? I dunno, but popular
culture can have a profound effect on how the public perceives
issues and politics. Remember what The Insider did to
the tobacco industry? Like The Insider, Traffic contains
few surprises for anyone who is familiar with the national
drug control policy of the past few decades. A majority
of those in Congress seem content to continue throwing
billions of dollars at such questionable tactics as crop
eradication and military intervention against drug producers
and traffickers. But to a populace that had been fed a
steady diet of drug busts, crack babies and Just Say No,
the movie should be a real eye-opener -- even if it offers
no easy solutions to a complex and difficult problem.
President Bush's Cabinet appointees are
a mixed bag when it comes to drug policy reform. While
in Congress, Attorney General John Ashcroft was an outspoken
critic of addiction treatment and a big fan of criminal-justice
and law-enforcement approaches to the drug war. Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recently told Congress that
drug use is "overwhelmingly a demand problem."
HHS appointee, Tommy Thompson seems similarly enlightened.
Ultimately, the public must push lawmakers into changing
the national approach to fighting drugs. And that's why
I, an advocate of a drug policy focused on public health,
found Traffic to be very useful, indeed.
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