Apr 14, 2017
Dear Hossein,
I think Congress 60’s tree planting ceremony is a wonderful ritual symbolizing both the rebirth of recovery and the service that addicts in recovery can render to their communities. It is also one more way each of us can make amends for some of the injuries inflicted on the world through our addiction years.
I just posted a new blog this morning on the value of smoking cessation in recovery from other addictions. It highlights a new study showing that those people recovering from other addictions who quit smoking had better long-term recovery rates than those who continued to smoke tobacco. It also highlights a new initiative in the U.S. that I have been part of that encourages American addiction treatment programs to integrate smoking cessation within their programs as you have done in Congress 60. I think adapting the DST method for smoking cessation combined with psychological and social support as is done in Congress 60 is the wave of the future on this issue.
The blog on Congress 60 has been drafted and Rita is proofing it. It highlights some of the distinct features of Congress 60 and links to your publications and interviews and to the article we recently published on Congress 60 in the journal Counselor. I hope to have it posted within the next month if I am able to begin posting new papers on my website. Delays in that area continue but I am hoping they will be resolved in the coming weeks.
My best wishes to everyone who will be taking the co-guide examination. 2800 volunteers enrolled for the examination is a remarkable number and testimony to the strong service ethic within Congress 60. And congratulations to the members of the Rugby team! I wish them the best during their competitions in the Netherlands.
It is a worrisome time at present in terms of drug policy in the U.S. There are early signals that such policy may be turning away from treatment and more towards punishment. I and other are doing all we can to prevent this from happening, but we are quite concerned about the direction of the new administration on this and related issues. This makes the work of the recovery advocacy movement even more important. I will try to keep you posted on these developments as I also try to avoid some of the other troubling political trends unfolding here.
My warmest regards to you and your family and to all members of Congress 60.
Friends and Brothers Forever,
Bill