[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 123 (Wednesday, September 28, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1978]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ADDICTION, TREATMENT AND RECOVERY

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                             HON. DAN BOREN

                              of oklahoma

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 28, 2005

  Mr. BOREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my support of the 
16th annual celebration of recovery month. All people are affected by 
addiction in some way, and it is important to celebrate those who beat 
addictive diseases and are now in recovery. Most people who know very 
little about the dangers of addiction suppose they could identify an 
addict if they saw one. Surprisingly, addiction can confront any person 
in any family, and this makes the joys of recovery all the more 
important. One mother whose daughter received treatment at Narcanon 
Arrowhead in my district said:
  ``I am the mother of five beautiful, intelligent and talented 
children. I gave up a lucrative and rewarding profession so that I 
could spend my life raising my children. I wanted to be part of every 
moment of their lives. As every mother does, I made plans. Those plans 
were for my spouse and myself and of course, our children. We want them 
to be healthy, educated and successful.
  Six months ago, my days, hours, weeks were consumed with finding a 
solution to my daughter's drug addiction, which seemed an impossible 
task. My daughter fought her addiction and lost since she was 13 years 
old. It all began by harmless experimentation with marijuana and 
alcohol but she then fell into the drug trap battling an addiction to 
every drug available today.
  As her addiction grew worse and worse my husband and I feared the day 
when we would get the call that she had landed in jail, or worse--she 
had died. Thankfully that call never came. In July of 2001 we gave her 
an ultimatum--either she seek treatment or we could no longer have 
anything to do with her. For 2 months after she was ``out there'' doing 
whatever she could to get high. I have never been that scared in my 
life. In August she finally agreed to go into treatment.
  Thanks to the Narconon Program my daughter has been clean for over 
six months. She is happy and functioning and for the first time in a 
long time, she is stable. I never want any parent to go through the 
nightmare that I went through with my child and there are millions of 
us going through it right now. I am writing this to tell you that there 
is hope. Today I can honestly say that I have my daughter back.''
  Stories like the one from this mother give me hope. I have hope for 
the treatment and recovery of the growing number of citizens in 
Oklahoma addicted to methamphetamines. Although the problem is 
daunting, with enough support and understanding addiction can be 
beaten! I appreciate what this month celebrates, and I am proud to 
share a success story from my home state.




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