Websites
Getting Sober
Online Screening — Not sure if your drinking patterns are likely to be risky or harmful? Answer this confidential, interactive questionnaire to find out.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) — The gold standard for getting sober and staying that way. Many members today are dually addicted to alcohol and other substances.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) — Preferred by many whose drug of choice is not alcohol. NA Mid-Atlantic region.
Marijuana Anonymous — Includes online meeting listings.
Methadone Anonymous — Meetings by state and online.
Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator — Plug in a city, state or zip code and the federal government's SAMSHA's database will return a variety of drug and alcohol treatment programs in your area.
Sobriety and Recovery Resources — A compendium of recovery sites from personal stories to online meetings.
Medication Assisted Treatment
Addition Treatment Watchdog — Resource for information about the disease and treatment of opiate addiction through medication.
FDA's Buprenorphine (Subutex and Suboxone) Information Sheets — Good Q&A on bupe, as well as info targeted to patients, doctors and pharmacists.
Buprenorphine Physician's Locator — SAMHA's state-by-state directory of physicians licensed to dispense bupe.
Assisted Treatment Centers of America — Good information about the use of the anti-craving medication naltrexone for alcohol and opioids and the Pennsylvania Model of Recovery.
Addiction Treatment Forum — The focus of this site is on methadone maintenance for opioid-addiction treatment but other treatment options and healthcare topics are also discussed. It includes a methadone clinic locator, back issues of its newsletter, and a FAQ about methadone.
Myths of Methadone — Addresses questions such as "trading one addiciton for another"; "gets in your bone marrow and rots your teeth"; and "is more addicting than heroin" (it's ture that it's tougher to withdraw from it).
Advocacy
Faces and Voices of Recovery (FAVOR) — Working to mobilize, organize and rally the millions of Americans in recovery from addiction, their families, friends and allies in a campaign to end discrimination, broaden social understanding, and achieve a just response to addiction as a public health crisis.
Johnson Institute's Recovery Ambassadors Workshop — This one-day training seminar travels around the country teaching prospective advocates how to find likeminded activists, build a message, organize volunteers, talk to policy makers, raise money, and keep the team fresh.
Recovery Month — September is National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Month, and the federal government has put together an impressive array of information and links on a site created by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA). Deirdre is one of the voices for recovery profiled as part of a Recovery Month Kit.
Outpost for Hope — This site assists families who are searching for their lost loved ones, supports the efforts of law enforcement, and educates the public about the silent epidemic of under-represented missing and unidentified persons. It was founded by Libba Philips after her sister Ashley — drug addicted and mentally ill — disappeared from the streets of Tampa.
Momstell — This advocacy group's goal is to to develop a resource to join concerned parents and families and work together for positive change regarding drug and alcohol issues. Based in Pennsylvania but with an eye on national issues and legislation, it has a concise Parent's Guide, among other helpful areas. Momstell was founded by Sharon Smith, who lost her daughter Angela to a heroin overdose in 1998.
National Alliance of Methadone Advocates — The primary objective of NAMA is to advocate for the patient in treatment by destigmatizing and empowering methadone patients. There is a helpful Quick Links page for information about medication assisted treatment.
Methadone Today — The newsletter of Detroit Organizational Needs in Treatment (DONT), a methadone advocacy group organized by methadone patients to return dignity to methadone maintenance treatment and to protect the rights of patients.
"Today's Recovery Movement" — Deirdre participated in a webcast that examined how the recovery movement has changed over time, and what's ahead for the future. It was conducted by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), which is part of SAMSHA.
Drug Policy Alliance — While I agree with several of the goals of this organization, it often infuriates me. It seems to advocate more toward making the world safe for drug abusers than toward prevention and treatment. Bottom line, though: No one should be in jail simply for using drugs.
OxyABUSEkills — Set-up in memory of an 18-year-old boy who ODed on OxyContin, this site shares stories and advocates for stricter regulation of Oxy and other prescription drugs that are frequently abused by teens and others.
Recovery Weekend — Recovery Weekend, with the goal of combining awareness with prayer at numerous houses of worship, is held the second or third weekend in September each year.
Roots 2 Life is aimed at people who are in some way affected by homelessness or substance misuse in the United Kingdom. It also advocates for the rights of homeless and addicted individuals.
Data and Information
Join Together — An excellent compendium of breaking news about drug policy, prevention and treatment.
Kids and Alcohol — Concise suggestions for how parents can educate their children about alcohol and other drugs from ages 3 on up. The articles also summarizes the short- and long-term effects of alcohol, and offers tips on the signs that indicate that a child is drinking.
Recovery Month — SAMSHA site rich with resources, including multiple links and searchable databases as well as audio, streaming video, and print information.
Addiction Search — Searchable database of information in the following categories: addiction, statitics, populations, treatment, prevention, social issues, organizations, and war on drugs.
Alcohol and Health: Current Evidence — This searchable online newletter summarizes the latest clinically relevant research on alcohol and health.
Alcohol Cost Calculator — Calculating the cost of alcohol problems to your business.
Families of Addicts, Drunks, Troubled Teens
Nar-Anon — A 12-step program designed to help relatives and friends of addicts recover from the effects of living with an addicted relative or friend. Worldwide meetings.
Al-Anon/Alateen — "Is your life affected by someone's drinking?"
Families Anonymous (FA) — Learning "how to love an addict while letting go of what we cannot control."
Outpost for Hope — This site assists families who are searching for their lost loved ones, supports the efforts of law enforcement, and educates the public about the silent epidemic of under-represented missing and unidentified persons. It was founded by Libba Philips after her sister Ashley — drug addicted and mentally ill — disappeared from the streets of Tampa.
Strugglingteens.com — Educational consultancy with leads and information about programs for teens with issues including drug and alcohol abuse.
Learn to Cope — See its FAQ for signs of addiction and steps to take. For info, email learntocope2001@yahoo.com.
Parents Helping Parents — Oklahoma-based group of "caring parents offering hope through resources, education, and shared experience."
Restoring Health
Hope for Hepatitis C — A book being written by Dr. Michael Weld, a naturopath/nurtrionist/chiropractor who has a practice with an M.D., focuses on natural cures for Hep C.
Online Forums
Addiction Recovery Message Board — Discussion threads are organized by drug of choice. There is also a thread for Families/Partners of Addicts.
Learn to Cope — Online support group for parents and family members dealing with their loved one's opiate addictions. (Most are kids between the ages of 17-26 in southern Massachusetts.)
Addition Treatment Watchdog's forum for methadone-related issues.
Ask Dr. Marc — Q&A for information about medically assisted treatment (methadone, buprenorphine, etc.) answered by a clinical psychologist.
Media
12 Step Talk Uncensored — Sheila Gale hosts a weekly call-in show with guests out of KXRA AM 540 in Monterey, CA, on Saturday afternoons from 4-5 PM Pacific time. Click here to listen live on the Internet.
Recovery Talk — Robyn Leary hosts a weekly half weekly half-hour radio program from Dobbs Ferry, NY, on issues surrounding recovery on WDFH on Fridays at 1:30 PM and Sundays at 8:30 AM.
Intervention
Association of Intervention Specialists
The AIS is a network of interventionists located throughout the country and abroad. Members guide families and friends, business executives, and others through the intervention process whereby a person engaged in self-destructive behavior is encouraged to accept help. All members meet or exceed basic educational and performance standards and all adhere to AIS Ethical Principles.
Full Circle Interventionists help motivate the chemically dependent person to accept help in a loving respectful and effective way. Intervention is a structured and carefully managed process that forges the lost connection between the addict and their family. This process encourages the person to accept treatment, bridging the gap from active addiction to health and wellness, while at the same time, catapulting the whole family into recovery.