August 12, 2023
Dear Hossein,
Thank you for your email of August 10. I always look forward to your latest communication filled with news of Congress 60 activities and your reflections on our areas of mutual interest. I’m pleased that you liked the introduction to “How are you?” and that you will be sharing and expanding on it in your weekly speech to members of Congress 60. In the addictions field, there is so much focus on physical recovery from addiction that restoring and elevating one’s ability to think as part of the recovery process receives far too little attention. Your writings, particularly “How are you?”, and your speeches help address this deficiency. I have thought about how best to get this latest book to the American and international audience. The last books I have done I did as a posted PDF on my website as we have done with your last books and with other articles you have written. Would you like to consider doing this for the “How are you?” book? The feedback I receive from other books we have done this way continues to be very positive both for its virtual accessibility and its affordability as we are gifting the book to readers at no cost. As for print copies, I am not aware of any restrictions on U.S. publishers working with authors from other countries or how difficult that would be. This is something I could research for you or you could let me know if you are aware if other Iranian authors who have used an American publisher to release printed translation of their work and how they did that..
I am delighted to hear that the William White legions are more crowded than ever and that about 30 percent of redemptions are for smoking cessation. Some treatment programs in the U.S are beginning to integrate the option of smoking cessation but none have done it as systematically or as effectively as Congress 60. Recovery support organizations like AA and NA have not addressed the issue of smoking. I have recently communicated with the General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous urging them to address this issue. I emphasized the following based on scientific studies and the collective experience of individuals in recovery:
Combining nicotine addiction with alcohol addiction amplifies the health risks of both addictions. 70-80% of people seeking help for alcohol problems smoke compared to 11.5% of the adult general population. Alcohol dependent smokers are more severely dependent upon nicotine, are less likely to stop smoking, and as a result, bear a greater burden of smoking-related diseases and deaths. Between 44-80% of people seeking addiction treatment express a desire to stop smoking. People treated for alcohol dependence are more likely to subsequently die from smoking-related diseases than from alcohol-related causes. Leading figures within the history of addiction recovery in America have died of smoking-related diseases, including A.A. cofounders Bill W., Dr. Bob; Marty M., leader of the modern alcoholism movement; Danny C. and Jimmy K., early leaders of Narcotics Anonymous; Charles Dederich, Founder of Synanon and the therapeutic community movement; Dr. Marie Nyswander, co-developer of methadone maintenance; and Senator Harold Hughes, leading alcoholism movement advocate.
Continued smoking among those seeking to initiate or maintain recovery is a risk factor for resumption of alcohol and other drug use. Smoking cessation does not compromise recovery outcomes for alcohol addiction. Smoking cessation improves recovery rates of other addictions; rates of smoking cessation rise with length of abstinence from alcohol and other drugs. The health benefits of smoking cessation for people in recovery include increased life expectancy; reduced risk of heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer; as well as a more rapid process of brain recovery from alcoholism. Increased recognition of these facts is reflected in the progressive growth of non-smoking A.A. and other recovery mutual aid meetings, declining rates of smoking among people in recovery, and the increased integration of smoking cessation support within addiction treatment programs. What American treatment programs and recovery support groups have failed to do that Congress 60 is assertively establish smoking as an anti-value at all levels of the organization. That is a remarkable achievement. That combined with use of the DST method of smoking cessation should be acknowledge as a historical milestone in the history of addicti0on treatment and recovery.
Please extend my warmest regards to your family and to all members of Congress 60. F
riends and Brothers Forever