*My friend Jennifer 8. Lee reports that New York State will be combining its substance abuse and gambling addiction hotlines. The move is further proof that the addiction field is increasingly equating “process addictions”—gambling, sex, compulsive overeating—with alcoholism and drug addiction. (And that many gamblers also abuse substances.)
*Jim Atkinson writes a brilliant essay about faith and the recovery process.
*Does alcohol aid sexual performance? The Aussies think so.
*In Belmont, California, it’s now illegal to smoke in your own apartment.
*President Obama’s half-brother is arrested in Kenya for marijuana possession (all of one joint).
*Drug addiction is skyrocketing in Afghanistan.
*Iowa’s success in shutting down methamphetamine labs has led to a 24 percent overall drop in drug offenders sent to prison.
*One addict who will be going to prison is British teenager Leon Ramsden, who, after a three-day drug and drinking binge, fatally stabbed a man at a bar. Earlier that night, Ramsden posted on his Facebook page that he felt ”like killin some1.”
While marijuana is the primary focus of our staggeringly ineffective (and unjust) Drug War, it kills virtually no one. (Compare that to alcohol and cigarettes, which cause hundreds of thousands of deaths each year). What are police officers to do with all the weed they confiscate from suspects? Make pot brownies, of course. In Michigan, a police officer resigned after making brownies with his wife and calling 911 to report that he was having an “overdose.” “I think we’re dying,” he told the operator. They didn’t die, of course, but they did make for an unusually entertaining segment on the local news.
I’m grateful to the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Cleveland Plain Dealer for publishing the first two daily newspaper reviews of America Anonymous. More will be appearing in the next few weeks. You can read the Star Tribune review here and the Plain Dealer review here.
I’ve had the privilege of being interviewed on two great radio programs in the last few days. First, there’s Kerri Miller’s terrific interview with me on Minnesota Public Radio. I also appeared with Jody and Ellen (two of the people I profile in the book) on Leonard Lopate’s show on WNYC in New York City. You can hear that program here.
America Anonymous was also a focus of today’s Salon cover story. Hope you can check that out.
Travel update: I just finished an event at Left Bank Books in St. Louis, and tomorrow I’m off to Arizona, where I’ll be doing a reading/signing at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe. Jody will also be there. You can check out the remainder of my tour here.
If I ever get out of Logan Airport in Boston (winter storm, flight delays), I’ll be doing two events Monday in the Chicago area: A talk and signing (open to the public) at Northwestern University, and a reading/signing at the Borders in Lincoln Park. For details on those events and all the other stops on my book tour, click here.
Newspaper reviews of my book will begin appearing over the next two weeks. CityPages in Minneapolis has a short review here. There’s also a terrific piece by Rick Holmes in the MetroWest Daily News about addiction in this country that quotes extensively from my book.
Click on the flyer for details of this wonderful event being organized by the City of West Hollywood. Hope to see you there!
The last few days have been a whirlwind. On Sunday in Boston, I invited 100 friends to a party at the Mills Gallery to celebrate the release of the book. It was truly one of the most memorable nights of my life, spent with an amazing group of friends. On Monday morning, I flew to New York City for some radio interviews and then joined Susan Cheever and Jody (one of the addicts I profile in the book) for a wonderful discussion at the Barnes & Noble in Tribeca. On Tuesday, I joined Janice (another one of the people I write about) for a touching event at Odyssey House in Harlem, where she spent more than two years in treatment. And that night, I read from my book at a fantastic America Anonymous book party sponsored by Promises, Sierra Tuscon, and Joseph Schrank & Associates.
I am humbled by the response so far to my book, and to my New York Times Modern Love piece. Since the story was published over the weekend, I’ve received hundreds of emails from men and women around the country who could relate personally, or knew and loved someone with a similar addiction. I will do my best to respond to each email over the next few weeks.
Tonight (Wednesday) I will be reading and signing at 7 p.m. at Brookline Booksmith in Boston. Then, on Sunday, I leave for Chicago and my 11-city book tour.
If you get a chance to read it, Rachel Dowd wrote a nice piece about me and the book in the current issue of The Advocate.
Finally, I had email problems on Tuesday and Wednesday, so if you sent me an email I may not have received it. So please send it again.
There are two stories relating to my book that I’d love for you to check out. First, I have an essay about my addiction running in the Modern Love column of The New York Times.
Then, Rachel Kramer Bussel has a review of “America Anonymous” and an interview with me at The Huffington Post.
If you’re in New York City, I hope to see you this Monday (Jan. 5th) at 7 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble Tribeca (97 Warren Street) for my first bookstore event.
I’ll be in conversation with Susan Cheever, author of My Name is Bill and Desire: Where Sex Meets Addiction. Two of the eight addicts I wrote about in America Anonymous will also be on stage with us. Come by and say hi! =)
Click here for a list of other cities I’ll be visiting on my tour.
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