WINNING THE ADDICTION WAR

Brett moves forward 12 steps at a time.

But he could move a fatal step backwards in less than 15
minutes.

The "12 Steps" led him from a bleak 20-year addiction to marijuana and
alcohol to a life of "serene sobriety."

And though he has been clean for six years, he says he could get what
he wants within 15 minutes, because drugs are so easily accessible in
this community.

"But I choose not to," he says adamantly. "The first high was
incredible and I spent the next 20 years trying to get that feeling
back. That never happened."

This recovering addict, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect his
family, has added his voice of experience to the recently created
Crystal Clear on Meth Task Force.

He takes issue with regarding marijuana as a 'soft drug.' It is, he
says a drug, pure and simple, and while it may not, "take you down as
fast as cocaine or heroin, it develops into a fiery habit."

Brett got drunk for the first time at age nine and smoked his first
joint when he was 12. "They were always my drugs of choice," he says.
Why did he use drugs?

"Because it seemed like a good idea at the time," says Brett, who came
from a good home, belonged to cadets and attended church.

This is a huge societal problem, he says, warning that so many parents
have no idea so many of their kids are indulging in drugs.

It was a habit that, at its height, cost Brett $500 per week.
Inexpensive, he says, compared to cocaine which costs many users $500
to $1,000 per day.

Brett says he moved through the first three of five accepted stages of
addiction, very quickly: from experimentation to regular use, followed
by addiction and dependence.

He would greet each day with an urgent desire to get to his stash as
quickly as possible. Like many users, he became adept at telling lies.

Moving into the fifth stage, recovery (or death), did not come so
quickly.

Now going on 39, Brett says he first thought about giving the drug up
at the age of 26. The highs weren't as good anymore and the drug was
interfering with his family life.

But Brett did nothing to pursue a life of sobriety until July 2, 1998,
when his wife took the couple's two children and left.

It was the day his worst fears were realized and the day he quit using
drugs.

>From there, he "white knuckled" his way through an 11-month tailspin,
into a nervous breakdown. "I was devastated," he says. "All I wanted
was to get my family back. Nothing else mattered."

But that did not happen and during the next several months, Brett
attended at least 300 12-step meetings, saw local drug and alcohol
counsellors and preachers and, like a mantra, kept telling himself,
"Whatever happens, don't use."

And, even though he didn't, life did not improve.

"I never knew anyone could have so much pain. I would go to sleep
crying and when I woke up, I was still crying."

The road back began with a three-month stay at Miracle Valley, a
Salvation Army recovery facility on the Lower Mainland.

It is there he began to examine the feelings so long suppressed by
drug use, and to apply the "12 steps" to his daily life.

"Recovery is not for the faint of heart," he says. "It is hard to look
inside yourself and then tell people you're sorry, especially when
they don't know you've done something to them."

About five weeks after his stay at Miracle Valley, Brett smoked a
joint. He followed that up with a bottle of pills.

His next stop was the psych ward in Vernon.

That was his turning point: Step Three the point at which he
turned his will over to the care of a higher power.

Brett chooses to call his higher power God and says the 12-step
programs he continues to attend are very spiritual.

"The goal," he says, "is for a contented recovery."

On July 2, Brett celebrated six years of recovery from drugs and seven
from alcohol. And he is contented, engaged to be married and gainfully
employed full-time.

"When I was using, I didn't have any hope for the future," he says. "I
was deluded into thinking I was unteachable and untrainable. Now the
future's so bright, I gotta wear shades."

He says he joined the task force to show the public, especially
addicts, that recovery from addiction, no matter what the drug, is
entirely possible.

"It takes guts and determination, family and community support," he
says emphatically, calling for more immediate access to help and support.

"There are counsellors in town, but sometimes it takes two weeks to
see them. It could mean the difference between recovery or death."

Public meeting tonight

The Crystal Clear on Meth Task Force hosts another public meeting
tonight, Nov. 9 at the SASCU Downtown Activity Centre at 7 p.m. And on
Monday, Nov. 14 at noon, everyone is invited to take part in the
Shuswap Family Resource Centre's Walk The Talk to mark the start of
Addictions Awareness Week.