Dear Readers,

I like to think of myself as having a positive outlook on life, and as such, I view the beginning of each new year as an opportunity to improve upon previous years.

In doing so, I try to reflect on some of the great experiences, as well as some of the not-so-great experiences. So, you can probably understand why I was caught a bit off guard when I was standing in line at the grocery store recently and caught sight of the headline, “The Decade from Hell,” practically screaming at me from the cover of Time.

Since I had once again managed to choose the slowest moving line in the store, I could afford to stand there, rooted to the spot, probably wearing a very dismayed expression as I wondered, “Well, isn’t it . . . the decade from hell, I mean.”

A flood of images crowded my weary brain – the devastating terrorist attacks of September 11, Hurricane Katrina’s wrath and horrifying aftermath, a collapsed stock market, friends who were laid off from their jobs, people losing their homes to foreclosure, a weary nation watching as far too many of our citizens are sacrificed in a war that seems to have no end. As the laundry list of nightmares swirled around in my head, I couldn’t help thinking, “Perhaps this author is on to something.”

Just as I was beginning to think a giant comet was going to rain fire from the sky, I picked up the magazine and re-examined the cover. Above the photo of an apparently unhappy screaming infant wearing a ridiculous party hat, in a much smaller font than the mention of the doomed decade, read the subhead, “And why the next one will be better.”  

Of course, by then, a mild panic and an ominous cloud of doom had permeated my usually sunny disposition. “Nice save, buddy,” I think to myself, wondering if the second line was just some contrived afterthought to assuage the panicked masses, or if he knew something the rest of us didn’t. Fortunately, that overall positive outlook I told you about was struggling back to the surface, and I felt myself being dragged away from the funk of despair that briefly threatened my normally happy (if not sometimes overly optimistic) existence.
Despite all the truly awful things that seemed to eclipse this last decade, the groundwork has been laid for some truly exciting advances in our future as citizens of this world.

Not long after my momentary panic over the state of the world, I came upon another article, this one, much more positive. President Obama has pledged to make sweeping changes in the way our government operates and serves the people. Some of these changes, such as choosing individuals like Tom McLellan to help shape policy on the future of addiction treatment, are reasons to be hopeful in a seemingly hopeless time.
Our newest Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) truly is one of the good ones. Not only is he one of the nation’s leading researchers on addiction, but the tragic circumstances that so often accompany addictive disease are not lost on him. And guess what else —oh yes, there is more—he isn’t a politician, rather, he is a respected addiction expert who wants to ensure that ­people are getting the message that addiction is “a chronic illness and not a moral issue.”

McLellan, along with the current drug czar, R. Gil Kerlikowske, are making it their mission to shift much of the ONDCP’s efforts toward prevention and treatment, with the goal of tripling the number of persons in the nation who are receiving addiction treatment services. Obviously, these two are going to face some challenges in getting their goals accomplished, but we have every reason to hope they will make some much needed changes to the current system of treating addicted individuals in this country.

So, there you have it. Sometimes, all we need is a little glimmer of hope to get us through the next day, month or year. Things are getting better— slowly, but surely. The addiction treatment community is one of strength and resiliency. I encourage you to continue fighting the good fight for those who need you the most.

This article is published in Counselor, The Magazine for Addiction Professionals, February 2010, v.11, n.1, pg.6. 

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