Public support for parity

Mental Health American (formerly the National Mental Health Association) released a poll on mental health and substance abuse parity this week. They are an advocacy group, so they have a clear bias, but the results they report are overwhelming:

Americans Think Health Coverage Should Include Mental Health and Substance Abuse... A large majority (74%) believe that insurance plans should cover substance abuse treatments at the same levels as treatments for general health issues. 23% feel that they should not be covered equitably. * The public demand for mental health equity is bipartisan -- 83% of Republicans and 92% of Democrats want equitable health insurance.

'Drinko': Anatomy of an Advocacy Campaign

Join Together breaks down the campaign that get Target, Kohl's and Linens 'n Things to stop selling drinking games.

More on radical recovery

I got some strong responses to Radical Recovery and thought you might want some more on the subject. Here are two more articles on the tension between 12 step recovery's focus on self-change and social activism.

• Radicalizing Recovery: Addiction, Spirituality, And Politics
• Needed: a radical recovery
  

Radical Recovery

For MLK day, here's an article by Bill White on "radical recovery." He describes a convergence of social activism and addiction recovery.

The article offers a model that goes well beyond the the interests of recovering people themselves and encourages advocacy in larger community contexts:

A radical recovery movement is now rising in America. That movement is flowing from the realization that addiction and its progeny of problems are visible everywhere, while recovery from addiction lies hidden. It is rising in the recognition that the stigma attached to AOD problems has increased in recent decades and has fueled the demedicalization and recriminalization of these problems. What started out as “zero tolerance” for drugs rapidly evolved into zero tolerance for people with AOD problems. It is in this regressive climate that a style of recovery is emerging that is radical in its scope (focus on environmental as well as personal transformation), radical in its inclusiveness (celebration of multiple pathways and styles of recovery), and radical in its synthesis of social responsibility and personal accountability. People in recovery are looking beyond their own addiction and recovery experiences to the broader social conditions within which AOD problems arise and are sustained. A radicalized vanguard of people in recovery is using personal transformation as a fulcrum for social change. They are living Gandhi’s challenge to become the change they wish to see in the world. Those who were once part of the problem are becoming part of the solution.

Advocates Renew Push for Mental Health 'Parity' Bill

This NPR story suggests that there is a good opportunity right now for passing parity legislation. The story never mentions addiction treatment. In the past, every time they get close to passing comprehensive parity (mental health and addiction), they drop addiction. We'll see what happens with this go-round.

Families Against Drug Addiction March Downtown

Mothers appear to be emerging as some of the most visible allies in advocating for treatment, recovery and greater public awareness. There are groups like this popping up all over the country.