Doug Thorburn on Early-Stage Alcohol and Drug Addiction

Co-dependent in the case of Princess Diana

January 12, 2007 at 12:08 pm · Filed under 1 - Top Stories

Co-Dependent of the Month: Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Fayed, killed in the August 1997 crash that also took the lives of Princess Diana and driver Henri Paul. Al Fayed continues to claim that Paul's blood samples were swapped as part of an elaborate cover-up of a plot to murder Princess Diana to stop her from marrying his son, a Muslim. Paul was a known "heavy drinker,"his BAL was reported at .18 per cent, tranquilizers were found in his system, he didn't look drunk in the hotel video immediately prior to the tragedy and he drove 90 mph in a 30 mph zone in a tunnel with giant pillars, all symptoms of alcoholism. Paul simply did what alcoholics do: ...

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Enablers: a Venezuelan tycoon, a District Attorney (Mike Nifong) and journalists (protecting Tank Johnson)

January 12, 2007 at 12:07 pm · Filed under 1 - Top Stories

Enablers of the Month: Venezuelan Shipping tycoon Wilmer Ruperti who, along with other well-connected businessmen known as "Boliburguesesâ€"Bolivarian bourgeoisie, helped Hugo Chavez steal the latest Venezuelan election. Like so many supporters of Josef Stalin, we might predict that Ruperti and others of his ilk will later suffer horribly. Eighteen-year-old whiskeys are reportedly the rage in Caracas, clogged with Hummers and top-of-the-line SUVs, while four out of 10 Venezuelans scrape by on less than $2 a day. According to Gustavo Coronel in a report published by the Cato Institute, in just one small sign of massive corruption 95% of all public contracts are now awarded without competitive bidding. Chavez "won"over 60% of the vote in a country of 26 million people, 60% ...

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James Brown: sometimes, it takes an addict.

January 12, 2007 at 12:06 pm · Filed under 1 - Top Stories

Sometimes, it takes an addict: Blues, R & B and gospel singer James Brown, dead of congestive heart failure at age 73. Brown's influence in music was breathtaking. He was variously described as the "Godfather of Disco,"the "Godfather of Rap,"the "Godfather of Funk"and a "firebrand in the black rights movement,"credited by some (including himself) with pushing African-Americans to move from the self-descriptor "Negro"to "Black"as a result of his 1968 anthem, "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)."Some music critics state that without Brown, there could have been no Prince, no Michael Jackson and no Miles Davis. Along with Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and Chuck Berry, he was among the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in ...

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Testing may not be enough, as the TV show “House” demonstrates

January 12, 2007 at 12:05 pm · Filed under 6 - Public Policy Recommendations, General

Public Policy Recommendation: Rehab may not be enough. Addicts can easily hide their drugs and enablers all-too-often protect their perceived right to use. Random and regular testing should be required for a period of time after an arrest as a condition of freedom or the right to work in fields where an addict poses a danger to others. The latest episode of "House"is a wonderful and graphic portrayal of the need for addicts to be tested. They are great liars who find willing participants in their perceived right to use. Yet, once someone proves to society his or her inability to use safely without acting badly towards others, society has a right"in fact, an obligation"to proscribe use by whatever means are required. Rational ...

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Likely a highly functional–and unidentified–alcoholic

January 12, 2007 at 12:04 pm · Filed under 3 - Dear Doug...

Dear Doug: Bad Sister Dear Doug: My younger sister, who makes a six-figure income, visits twice a year. Every time, I feel violated. After she leaves, I discover that photos, various handicrafts and even my artwork have "mysteriously"disappeared. I confront her, but she accuses me of persecuting her. She's verbally abusive and ridicules me in front of others. I barely scrape by on a meager retirement, yet she steals from and abuses me. What is wrong with her and what can I do? Signed, Abused Sister . . . . Dear Codependent, Other columnists would suggest that you stop inviting your sister to your home and tell her to seek therapy. While the advice to stop the invites is appropriate, telling her to seek therapy is probably ...

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.12 BAL is a LOT more than just one drink

January 12, 2007 at 12:02 pm · Filed under 4 - Alcoholic Myth of the Month

"Nicole Richie, who blew a .12 per cent BAL, drank only a shot of vodka that day.â€ So said a number of reports, in which Richie's 2002 arrest for DUI was mentioned, that detailed her most recent overt symptom of addiction: driving the wrong way on a Burbank, CA freeway under the influence of Vicodin and dope. Unfortunately, once again journalists woefully misled the public in a major news story. The calculation for determining BAL seems virtually unknown outside our exclusive circle. To review: one "drink"= one "shot"= 1.5 ounces 80-proof liquor = 5 ounces average (12% alcohol) wine = 12 ounces average (5% alcohol) beer. One drink increases the BAL of a 200 pound person by .02 per cent, a 120 ...

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If there’s confusion AND other-destructive behaviors, it’s usually not just dope

January 12, 2007 at 12:01 pm · Filed under 5 - Amazing Alcoholic Antics

Amazing Antics: Stories of Alcoholism-Driven Behaviors Story from "This is True"by Randy Cassingham, with his "tagline:â€ "CONTEMPT OF COURT: Devin K. Hoerauf, 19, was in court in Rockville, Md., to answer to multiple robbery charges. When he stood up from the defense table, something fell out of his pocket: a bag full of marijuana. His lawyer quickly jumped to his defense: â€˜He is brain-damaged, your honor,' she said. â€˜I don't mean he's just a defendant who does dumb stuff. This is a boy with an IQ in triple digits. His brain is glued together with Silly Putty. He can't think his way out of a paper bag, but he can do physics.' The lawyer, Gwyn Hoerauf, apparently knows: she's the defendant's mother. ...

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O.J. gets desperate for attention

December 10, 2006 at 3:42 pm · Filed under 1 - Top Stories

An Alcoholic Stoops to a New Low: The Brief Return of O.J. Simpson O.J. tries to recapture the limelight with his (ghostwriter's) new book, If I Did I Extraordinary overachievers are, perversely, frequently alcoholics. Horrific acts are terrific clues to alcoholism. The bizarre can also be an excellent indicator of addiction. If overachieving, horrific and bizarre are combined, we get O.J. Simpson: former football great and Heisman Trophy winner, convicted (in civil court) murderer and someone who recently wanted to tell the world"and his children"how he "would have"murdered their mother "if"he had done so. "Experts"suggested his book was merely a continuation of Simpson's well-known narcissistic tendencies, in which he has sought attention on the playing field, car-rental ads, movies and the trial of the century. ...

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Runners-up for top story: Actors Lindsay Lohan, Michael “Kramer” Richards, Daniel Baldwin, Pamela Anderson, Kid Rock and Tawny Kitaen Finley

December 10, 2006 at 3:41 pm · Filed under 1 - Top Stories

Actor Daniel Baldwin, arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto. Just a few months earlier, Baldwin made news crashing a rented car into two parked vehicles after speeding at over 80 mph on Los Angeles area streets, which in turn occurred shortly after an arrest on suspicion of cocaine possession, which in turnâ€¦well, you get the idea. Baldwin is the brother of actors Alec, Stephen and William. Actors Pamela Anderson, 39 and Kid Rock, 35 filing for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences"after getting married on a yacht in St. Tropez four months before. Anderson was previously married to rocker Tommy Lee for three years. Theirs is a classic case of alcoholic antics continuously providing fodder for the tabloids. Actress Tawny Kitaen Finley, 45, ...

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Co-dependent of the month: the mother of a dead toddler

December 10, 2006 at 3:39 pm · Filed under 1 - Top Stories

Suzie Marie Pena's mother, Lorena Lopez, announcing that she would press ahead with her lawsuit against the LAPD to avenge her daughter's death when the L.A. police board concluded after a 15-month investigation that the toddler's death was the fault of her father, Jose Raul Lemos, a.k.a. Jose Raul Pena, in July 2005. I wrote in "runners-up,"August 2005, that Pena used his "19-month-old daughter Suzie Marie Pena as a shield against police trying to arrest him after being reported for making domestic threats against Suzie's mother, Lorena Lopez and, in a separate report, for physical threats against Lopez's 16-year-old daughter. Pena's family in El Salvador described his relationship with Lopez as â€˜troubled' and punctuated with fights. Pena, an illegal migrant, ...

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Enabler-of-the-month: Lohan’s publicist, Leslie Sloane-Zelnik

December 10, 2006 at 3:39 pm · Filed under 1 - Top Stories

Enabler of the Month: When Actress Lindsay Lohan was found unconscious on a recent Sunday morning before the announcement that she began attending AA meetings, a doctor was summoned. After finding "a stash of cocaine and a pile of prescription drugs"including Vicodin, Dilaudid, Ambien and nitrous oxide (laughing gas), the doctor insisted she go to a hospital for what he termed a "serious drug overdose,"and then into rehab. After Lohan later that day announced she would no longer be dealing with the physician who attended to her, her publicist Leslie Sloane-Zelnik explained that "a doctor was called because Lindsay fell and scraped both her arms. She needed bandaging."You just can't make this stuff up. If she dies, her friends, family and ...

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“House”: An excellent portrayal of an NT addict

December 10, 2006 at 3:37 pm · Filed under 2 - Movie & Book Reviews

Houseâ€ Rude, condescending, sarcastic, belittling and brilliant. If the combination of words that best describes someone has seemingly inherent contradictions, we need to look for addiction, however improbable it may at first seem. Since these terms are an apt description of Dr. Gregory House, the lead character on the show "House,"the odds are if we are able to peer into the person's private life we'll prove addictive use. I recently discovered "House,"which airs on FOX on Tuesdays at 9pm (repeated Fridays at 10pm), in its third season. There is little on TV that brings thoughts such as "brilliant"or several belly laughs in almost every episode, but "House"manages. The tight and acerbic writing is comparable to that of the original "Law and Order"starring the ...

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“He’ll Never Change” (Yes, He Will, but only with the right motivation)

December 10, 2006 at 3:36 pm · Filed under 3 - Dear Doug...

Dear Doug: He'll Never Change Dear Doug: I'm losing my patience with my husband. He calls almost every week night near the end of the work day to tell me he's going out for a beer. Most of his drinking buddies are single guys, but one is a young single divorcee from his office. He often drives home as late as 10 or 11 at night and is sometimes almost incoherent. He's already had one bad incident on the way home and was able to buy his way out of it. My counselor has told me he's not going to change. I'm hurt, jealous and afraid. His behavior tells me he'd rather be out drinking than come home to a wonderful meal I ...

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Richard Pryor’s “demons”

December 10, 2006 at 3:36 pm · Filed under 4 - Alcoholic Myth of the Month

"He fought his demons." So said Rain Pryor in regards to her father, the late comedian Richard Pryor, in an interview with Bill Handel on a recent "The Bill Handel Show"(KFI 640am, Los Angeles), in a publicity interview for her new book, Jokes My Father Never Taught Me: Life, Love, and Loss with Richard Pryor. Unfortunately, both she and Handel (who is a long-time recovering addict) used the term "demons"repeatedly. The term, a euphemism for "drug addiction,"serves only to confuse the uninitiated by suggesting the idea that demons cause psychotropic drug addiction rather than addiction causes demons. Instead of educating, it misguides. Richard Pryor was married six times. His daughter describes him as misogynistic, mercurial, unpredictable and violent. She describes life with ...

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Beer, two idiots and manslaughter

December 10, 2006 at 3:35 pm · Filed under 5 - Amazing Alcoholic Antics, General

Amazing Antics: Stories of Alcoholism-Driven Behaviors Story from "This is True"by Randy Cassingham, with his "tagline:â€ "You can't shoot me, I'm invisible!" "FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU: James Walter Quick, 42, and Richard Allen Johnson, 43, went hunting together, then watched a college football game at Johnson's house in Lexington, S.C. They had $20 riding on the game, and the South Carolina Gamecocks beat the Clemson Tigers. Quick asked Johnson to pay up, but Johnson said the Tigers should have won and refused to pay. Quick, police say, went to his car and grabbed his hunting rifle, returned to the house, and demanded his $20. Witnesses say Johnson, who was still wearing camouflage clothing from the hunting trip, replied, "You can't shoot ...

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