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What does addiction mean to our community?
By: By KATHY SANDBERG and ZACH PRUITT, Guest columnists
Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 9:22 pm
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The faces of drug users are less distinguishable than many realize. She’s your daughter; he’s my son. They’re the middle-aged couple next door. She’s your babysitter; he’s your newspaper carrier or pizza delivery person. They include people who use tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs. When people start to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol or use marijuana, they do so for a variety of reasons. Whatever the reason for beginning, no one starts this behavior with the goal of becoming an addict. The disease of addiction permeates all sectors of the community. No one knows when our smoking, drinking or other drug use behavior will end in addiction.

Our community has been exposed to the struggles of addiction in very striking ways. With the recent arrests of young people on heroin-related charges and the continued awareness that people in Northfield use heroin, many may be thinking that the whole situation seems pretty surreal. And it is. Addiction doesn’t make sense. It isn’t logical. We wonder why the negative consequences of alcohol/drug use don’t cause people to quit using. We wonder why families or friends of alcohol/drug users don’t know about it or don’t do something to stop it. We look for a reason, a cause or someone to blame. We see people suffering from addiction as the problem and we distance ourselves from them; we see “them” as different from “us.”

The strategy works well until we discover one day that “we” are “them.” The realization that a brother, daughter, grandparent, dear friend or spouse is struggling with addiction causes a dramatic shift in perspective. The recognition dawns that this disease can happen to us … in our families, in our places of work and worship, in our schools and in our communities. When it happens to us, there’s a good chance that we unexpectedly become more tolerant, more sympathetic, more understanding and more compassionate.

Suddenly we see some of the choices that combined to lead to addiction as ones we too might have made. We begin to understand addiction is a downward spiral that doesn’t look ominous in its onset … except for the subsequent choices it compels. When we understand the pathway to addiction, we begin to understand how important early intervention strategies are at combating addiction. If we avoid being on that slippery slope — keep those we love from that first poor choice — then we have a chance of breaking the cycle.

There is a tendency when thinking of drug abuse to believe that the problem can be “arrested away.” While law enforcement plays a vital role in addressing community problems, it is especially important for our community to put its energy behind strategies that keep young people away from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in the first place. Keeping kids safe and healthy is the best defense. But when prevention doesn’t work, we shouldn’t abandon those with a problem or their families.

Assuring that addicts are accountable for their actions is important, as is providing them the opportunity to take responsibility for their mistakes. But addicts and their families also deserve our compassion and support. By actively investing in prevention, intervention, treatment and ongoing support, Northfield and its families will be a healthier community.



— Kathy Sandberg and Zach Pruitt are staff liaisons of the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Alcohol & Drug Use.
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Member Opinions:
By: Southfielder25 on 11/19/08
Seems like a former police chief made this same statement about 18 months ago and was thrown under the bus.

By: momof5 on 11/19/08
Amen Southfielder.

 
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