Drugs and substance abuse have been on the rise world over. In response to this social problem, there are numerous organizations that are dedicated towards alleviation of this problem. Among the many organizations, there is the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA). The organizations have varied methods of approach in the attempt to provide solutions to the problem of alcoholism and drug abuse.
Alcoholic Anonymous (AA)
This organization was founded in 1935 as an international fellowship for mutual aid by Dr. Bob Smith and Bill Wilson. The primary goal for the organization was “to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety” (Michael Gross, 2010). The group uses two main approaches; the twelve steps and the twelve traditions. Both are aimed at helping the individual addicts to come to total self-awareness and management of individual’s life.
The twelve steps
According to Bill W. 2001, the twelve steps that were published initially by the AA include; admission of powerlessness due to alcoholism, belief that there exist a greater force that can restore sanity, and turning to God. Search for moral inventory and admission of wrongs to God and Man in their exactness, be ready to accept God to cleanse all defects, Ask God to remove the defects, make a list of the people one had harmed and willing to make direct amends to the harmed, continue to take personal moral inventory, improve consciousness through meditation and prayer, and achieve a spiritual awakening. The basic principle here is to lead one to self-awareness in the face of God and humanity and rejuvenate spirituality and morals of the addicts.
The twelve traditions
These traditions accompany the twelve steps. They include common welfare to come first for all the members, observance of one ultimate authority God, only desire for AA members is to quit drinking, autonomy in groups affiliated to AA, spread the message to all alcoholics suffering, and no endorsement of economic activities least they divert attention from the core objective that is to quit drinking, full self-support for of all the groups, non-professionalism, never to be hierarchically organized, only attraction to be the only public policy, and anonymity. These traditions make one feel committed and have a sense of belonging to the group and hence fully committed to the achievement of the goals.
The CADA
The main objective of this organization is to build a saver and healthier community by prevention and treatment of alcoholism and drug abuse. The main methods of approach involve public education and awareness and intervention when a problem appears. The former involves publication of materials with well researched data on the effects of alcohol and other substances abused. Such information is provided in form of newsletters as well as online publications on its websites. The organization also has school based programs to create awareness.
The intervention comes in when the problem of drug abuse is noticed. The CADA has created the following projects for intervention; the recovery adult programs that are aimed and helping adult drug addicts recover, the adult counseling and education programs that help in guiding the parents on how to handle their addicted children. There is also the family support service provided by CADA. The main objective of CADA as articulated is more of preventive than curative. However, a need may arise, curative measures are taken in form of the interventions.
References
Michael Gross,Ph.D (2010). American Journal of public health (December 1, 2010).
Bill W. (June 2001). "Chapter 5: How It Works" (PDF). Alcoholics Anonymous (4th ed.). Alcoholics
Anonymous World Services. ISBN 1-893007-16-2. OCLC 32014950.
Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (CADA). Retrieved on 10th March ,2014 from
http://cadasb.org/home.aspx
