COME CELEBRATE WITH US!!
THE DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO THE 28th and will be the last Friday of every month.
Days, Months, Years, everyone is welcome to come celebrate!!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Online drug trade?
WSOC News had an interview with our first graduate of UNC-Charlotte's Collegiate Recovery Community!! The interesting information on drug trade on the internet is just astounding.
Hillary Belk's Interview
By Nate Stewart
CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
There's a new concern about illegal activity happening on social media sites like Facebook. Investigators said people in the area are using the sites to deal illegal drugs.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are some of the most popular social media sites, but Shanda Bostian, she says her son used them to deal drugs.
"Hurt. Just hurt. I didn't want to believe my son would do something like that," said Bostian.
Bostian said she started noticing changes in her son Steven: behavioral problems, bad grades, and violence.
"Then I started seeing signs of drug use," said Bostian.
She said she had no idea the extent of her son's addiction, and new business, until she stumbled upon his Facebook account.
"When I opened his inbox messages there were hundreds and hundreds of messages of drug transactions between him and other students," she said.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are some of the most popular social media sites, but Shanda Bostian, she says her son used them to deal drugs.
"Hurt. Just hurt. I didn't want to believe my son would do something like that," said Bostian.
Bostian said she started noticing changes in her son Steven: behavioral problems, bad grades, and violence.
"Then I started seeing signs of drug use," said Bostian.
She said she had no idea the extent of her son's addiction, and new business, until she stumbled upon his Facebook account.
"When I opened his inbox messages there were hundreds and hundreds of messages of drug transactions between him and other students," she said.
Bostian said she saw evidence that her son was dealing OxyContin, Xanax, cocaine, and Ecstasy through the social media site. The messages she showed us detailed drug deals, shipments, and even drop-offs on school property. Agents said it's a problem exploding across the Charlotte area.
"It opens up borders," said William Baxley with the DEA in Charlotte.
He said e-trafficking, as he calls it, is on the rise.
"So instead of going to unsafe neighborhoods, the buyer can, from the safety of their home, use the social media to purchase drugs without exposing themselves to the elements they traditionally would," said Baxley.
He said cartels and criminal organizations use social media to reach a large network of potential buyers. He said drug dealers feel the online community is safer than using a cellphone.
"Almost every investigation that we do now touches on the social media on some aspect," said Baxley.
A search warrant we found backs up Baxley's claims. The warrant said a man named Alfredo Alejo, a prisoner at a prison in Georgia, was using Facebook to recruit couriers and coordinate trips, trafficking heroin from California into Charlotte. The warrant said the DEA, CMPD and Mint Hill Police were able to seize 9 pounds of black tar heroin in Charlotte after Alejo placed the order over Facebook.
"It doesn't surprise me that it has moved into this arena," said Hillary Belk, a recovering drug user.
She's now clean, working with UNC-Charlotte's Collegiate Recovery Program to teach students about drug abuse.
"I wasn't OK with me," said Belk.
She's now using her new opportunity to educate students on addiction while provide a safe place to hang out and foster sober friendships. She's also doing the majority of her work, online.
"You can use social media to do the opposite, and that is to move forward the idea that you are not alone," said Belk. "We can use this as an opportunity to continue to counter act it and educating and letting the public know that there is a message of hope out there."
But for parents like Bostian, the reality is tough, sending her son off to rehab and now boarding school, just to keep him offline and off drugs.
"It was the worst thing I've ever went through," said Bostian.
She hopes other parents take notice of what could be going on online.
"I don't think parents are aware of it or if they are aware of it they want to ignore it cause they don't want to have to face it," said Bostian.
The DEA said the online purchase of drugs exposes people to a number of dangerous situations. They said ultimately the buyer does not know exactly what they're getting.
If you or someone you know is seeking help recovering from drugs or alcohol, there are a number of ways to seek treatment for drug abuse in our area.
The collegiate recovery program at UNC Charlotte supports college students who are in recovery from addiction of any kind. They offer weekly 12 step meetings (alcoholics anonymous, narcotics anonymous and Al-anon), seminar classes on recovery issues, advisement, peer mentoring, as well as $1,000 tuition scholarships for those who have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and at least 6 months of sobriety.
The Dilworth Center in the Dilworth neighborhood helps adolescents, young adults, and adults deal with chemical dependency. They also have relapse prevention programs and on-site drug screening. According to their website, "the adult, 40-session treatment program offered by the Dilworth Center is designed to deliver effective and intensive chemical dependency treatment in a manner that allows participants and their families to continue their work and home routines." You can find more information on their website.
The McLeod Addictive Disease Center has dozens of treatment and educational programs ranging from alcohol abuse to adult substance abuse and methadone programs. According to their website, "McLeod Center offers methadone and substance treatment for opiate dependence in eight outpatient treatment programs across Central and Western North Carolina, with locations in Boone, Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, Hickory, Marion, Monroe, and Statesville." There's more information on their website.
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013
HAVING FUN IN RECOVERY!
Here is the truth… I had a lot of fun in active addiction. I laughed, I played, I joked, I met people, and I traveled. I found new insights on life, on the world, and on myself. I will never be the guy to act like drugs and alcohol was not a good time.
I will let you in on a secret. My social life in recovery is way more fun.
I don’t say this to come across pretentiously while sitting in a corner and pointing at all the people enjoying their drinks. They are free to drink, I don’t judge. I simply wish to portray the message to people, that the social life I have built in recovery, is more enjoyable than the one I had in addiction. It doesn’t even matter if people believe me or not. This is just how it is for me.
Let me be clear. When I mentioned the good time I had in active addiction, there comes a point where the fun stops. That point where recreational use turns into addiction. The fun is over, all there is left is anxiety. That feeling at 3 a.m. when all you can do is sit on the edge of your bed and stare at the wall. That feeling when you are getting your morning coffee, looking at all the people around you going about their day. I remember watching these people and wondering, “why do I feel this way? What do these people know that I don’t?” That part was not fun. It sucked.
My social life now is filled with subtle joys. My social life no longer consists of nights out, but rather a collection of moments that give me a life. Work, the dog park, the gym, reading a book and meeting a stranger, this is my new social life. I am a human, I am a social being. Why is it that we think social lives only happen on nights and weekends? It’s just not that way anymore. When building a social life in recovery, I have learned to enjoy all the moments. For me, I still go out, I can still go dancing, I can still do all those things. What’s important for me is to double check my intentions. If my intentions for going out are good, then I have nothing to worry about. Sometimes I can even trick myself, but the truth is I don’t struggle with that much. Life is meant to be enjoyed. I didn’t get sober to be bored.
The real blessing is something bigger than all of the details of our daily lives. The real joy is that now I am free to be myself. I can laugh, I can introduce myself to people, I can dance, I do all of the things I was too scared to do before. Now that I have my recovery, I have discovered an identity. It is so much easier to be social and to interact with other people when you better understand who you are. I still have insecurities, don’t get me wrong, but I find myself worrying less and less about what people think of me. I used to constantly second guess myself. Should I have said that? Do I look silly right now? Am I acting awkward? It was all fear. I still get nervous around people, but that fear no longer cripples me as it used to.
I am 100% honest and heartfelt in telling you that I have way more fun in sobriety than I did in my addiction. If for no other reason, it is simply because sobriety has given me the courage and the choice to do whatever it is I want. I am free to do whatever makes me happy… and that is a lot of fun.
By Tim Stoddart, Founder and Head Writer at Sober Nation.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Check out the FIX
http://www.thefix.com/content/sober-fix-dresner2081
The Fixes We Chase in Sobriety
Now that you're sober, it's time to sleep around, shop and guzzle on sugar. Or meditate and get a massage. Meet the good, the bad and the fugly of sober fixes.
The author deciding . . . Photo: Adam Hendershott
For us recovering alcoholics and addicts, it often seems like we never really stop trying to get that “fix.” I'm wired in some basic way to want to elude myself, escape my feelings. This did not go away when I got sober. On the contrary, once I put down booze and drugs, I discovered endless new and creative ways to temporarily alter myself. I don’t think I’m alone. It’s the dreaded “whack-a-mole” syndrome, wherein you put down one addiction only to have the disease rear its ugly head in another form. It’s no surprise, then, that many people with a decent amount of time sober end up in other 12-step programs as their “fixes” get out of hand (see: OA, NA, DA, GA, SLAA, etc.). I’m in AA and dabbled for a bit in SLAA. Here's my list of some of the dicier fixes I've tried—followed by some of the healthier options.
Right now, I enjoy blowing big billowy clouds of nicotine vapor into the faces of small children in public.
Sex: Known in SLAA/SA as “two-legged dope.” As soon as I got sober this time around, reeling from a devastating divorce, this was my go-to. I ran from my newly emerging feelings into the beds of B-list actors, C-list comics and the requisite drummer. The “high” of going to meet a new lover had the same heart-pounding, finger-trembling anticipation of going to meet the dope man. Even if the sex was bad—as it usually was—it was still a welcome, if brief, respite from the overwhelming sadness, boredom and emptiness of early sobriety. Impulsive frequent “sexcapades” can wreak havoc as surely as drugs and booze—physically (creepy STDs, unwanted pregnancies) and emotionally (compromising marriages, causing shame). And like booze and drugs, you build a tolerance and have to keep upping the ante. So, if you find yourself chained to a radiator wearing a clown mask (no judgment), or you date a guy who requires lederhosen, you might want to proceed with caution. Sometimes, if I need a release and want the flood of endorphins without the complication of another horny person, I masturbate. To quote Woody Allen: "Don't knock masturbation. It's sex with someone you love." There are actually a lot of health benefits to flogging the dolphin or roughing up the suspect. So, unless that’s one of your “bottom lines” in SLAA, have at it.
Self-Injury: I fell into the ranks of 13-year-old Goth girls when I picked up “cutting” early in my most-recent sobriety. Like a true novice, I cut where people could actually see (mostly my wrists) and I still have faint scars. I showed them to a friend once, and he proceeded to play tic-tac-toe on my arm with a pen to show the extent of my stupidity. I wanted people to know the extent of my emotional pain, as dramatic and self-indulgent as that sounds. But I soon discovered that cutting can be a powerful anesthetic and high. It is a “natural drug,” because as soon as you take that swipe with the razor blade, natural endorphins are immediately released. There is a sick relief in seeing one’s own blood, as any recovering junkie will attest.
Shopping and Gambling: I still spend hours on eBay, adding endlessly to my “watch list”—'80s rock tees, vintage hooker boots and Alexander Wang handbags. I’m always on the hunt for the next cool bargain. And as most of the items go up for “auction,” there's that added thrill of “bidding”—which I guess is akin to the excitement of gambling. Now that I've joined the ranks of the proletariat and am struggling to be “self-sufficient through my own contributions” (don’t ask how that’s going), I don’t have much money to buy things. So if you see me in new pair of Current Elliott jeans, I’ve probably been living on Kashi for a week. There’s only so much money to go around. I’ve never been a gambler, mostly because I never ever win. Gambling is based on intermittent reinforcement (you win some, you lose some) and the flood of adrenaline you get when doing it. Often referred to as the “hidden illness,” it can be disastrous. Just take a visit to some of the seedy toothless wig-wearing casinos in downtown Vegas to see where you could be heading.
Caffeine and Nicotine: Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. AA/NA meetings are notorious for their chain-smoking and coffee-swilling. You can even find an unknown meeting solely by the cloud of cigarette smoke and plethora of styrofoam cups. When I’m not guzzling five-shot iced soy lattes, you’ll find me perusing the supermarket aisles, hunting for energy drinks, soda and yerba matte. If you imbibe enough, you can actually spin above your looming depression and convince yourself that your jittery angst-filled buzz is happiness. Unfortunately, if you overdose on these weird energy drinks (especially the ones withTaurine) you can find yourself in the ER with heart palpitations or a seizure. It’s actually happened to me. The problem with these energy drinks is that they haven't been regulated by the federal government as “beverages.” So use in moderation or not at all. Most people don’t put down the smokes till they have some substantial clean time. My own sponsor told me to wait till I had a year, but I switched to e-cigarettes a few months ago. I am still ingesting nicotine and, like a true junkie, I always look for the cartridges with the highest percentage of the drug, but at least my hair and breath smell better. As the pharmacological and psychological characteristics that determine tobacco addiction are similar to those that determine addiction to cocaine and heroin, it’s no surprise that so many ex-addicts smoke. If you want to get “smober,” go check out Nicotine Anonymous. Right now, I enjoy blowing big billowy clouds of nicotine vapor into the faces of small children in public.
Food: Ever heard of “sober body,” the voluptuous shape we take thanks to the 20 pounds we pack on when we first get sober? Even as the bloat abates for drunks, they can turn to sweets to replace the voraciously desired sugar that was in the booze. Us cokeheads and junkies will “put down the spoon and pick up the fork,” and fatten up like Thanksgiving turkeys. I’m sure all the late-night fellowship at greasy diners don't help. It’s a scientific fact that when we consume sweet and high-fat foods, serotonin is released. You don’t need to tell me and my stash of Toblerone and maple bacon kettle chips any of that!
Medication: The comedian Rick Shapiro once said, “I’m on more drugs than when I was on drugs!” At five months sober, I was on six different psychotropic medications. With two decades of mental illness under my belt, anytime I took a dive—even though it was totally normal to be on a mental precipice as I was in treatment for the sixth time, going through a divorce, broke and homeless—I was sure I was heading back into some depressive abyss from which I would never return. I was damned if I was going to find myself in yet another psych ward, drinking shitty decaf in a flimsy green gown and doing puzzles. I would show up to see my shrink, disheveled and crying, and we would add yet another medication to my regime. I could hear my poor liver cry out as my doctor wrote a new script. I could not let go of the idea that this final pill would be the answer to all my problems, that I would finally feel normal without having to do any work. It never happened. (Note: if you have a mental disorder and take your medication as prescribed and it is helping you, please keep on. I am not suggesting anybody get off their meds. I am solely telling my story.) It was only once I topped out on all the possible meds I could take, that I retired my purple “Rx drugs are my life” t-shirt. My apologies to the pharmaceutical industry, as their stock, no doubt, took a dip.
Love: There is nothing like the high of being in love—the companionship, the acceptance, the shared expenses, that special somebody who will fuck you even if you haven’t brushed your teeth. Unfortunately this is something that just “happens” to us, if we’re lucky, a few times in our lonely, pathetic lives. For addicts, it can be hard to accept this love as it conflicts with our ingrained self-hatred. However, anything that creates feelings of pleasure, for me, can quickly become addictive. Love is not exempt. Go to a Love Addicts meeting and see for yourself.
Facebook: Whether it’s posting a funny comment that gets 52 “likes,” judging other people’s selfies or trolling for new love connections, Facebook can be addictive. It’s a virtual reality and a total time-suck wherein you can interact with strangers in your underwear from the safety of your room, face dotted with zit cream, and be whoever you want. Ever seen Catfish? You can get in flame wars with people you don’t even know, or flirt-a-thons with people you’d like to know. You can spy on your ex (if he/she hasn’t blocked you yet) and feel jealous about other people’s pretend lives. Talk about comparing your insides to other people’s outsides. But in the end, you are alone with your computer and the ability to put your insane thoughts into cyberspace at the press of a button. Restraint of pen and tongue out the window. Think I’m exaggerating?
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