Conquer the Beast of Addiction (without your Crutches).

A friend was telling me yesterday about the vital role marijuana played in his abstinence from booze.

We’re both recovering alcoholics, so I was interested. “It’s all about harm reduction,” he explained. “Alcohol was tearing me up inside.” Now that we’ve decriminalized psychedelic mushrooms here in Denver, he’s a proponent of micro-dosing ‘shrooms to relieve anxiety. “I smoke a lot less weed now that I can take mushrooms,” he continued.

I get the principle of harm reduction. It’s been preached in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and by addiction counselors for the better part of a century now. A therapist friend of mine used to tell clients to go the Dairy Queen and order a Blizzard when the cravings for alcohol grew intense (until he learned how dangerous sugar is for alcoholics).

I understand the concept. But I have a disease with an astronomical relapse rate, and rather than helping people heal, we are teaching them to be just a little less wounded.

Harm reduction. Stay broken, just use a different crutch.

When I first got sober, I took some pride in the fact that I had beaten my disease. I was still ashamed of my alcoholism, and I was jealous of people who could drink responsibly, but…