weekly roundup

this week's celebrity news from About.com/Alcoholism

Chris Klein Enters Rehab After DUI Arrest

A representative of Chris Klein said the "American Pie" actor had checked himself into rehab to "deal with his addiction." The move comes after his recent DUI arrest. "After recent events, Chris was forced to take a clear look at a problem he has been trying to deal with himself for years," Jaime Primak said. "He understands now that he can not beat this disease alone."

Nicole Richie's Probation Extended One Year

Reality television star Nicole Richie has had her DUI probation extended for one year because she has not completed her court-ordered alcohol education courses. Richie was granted a leave of absence from her probation requirements due to her responsibilities of raising her two children, Sparrow, 9 months and Harlow, 2.

Slipknot Bassist Died of Morphine Overdose

Paul Gray, bassist for the heavy metal band Slipknot died of an accidental overdose, according to autopsy results. Toxicology reports found morphine and fentanyl, another powerful painkiller, in his system. When his body was found by a hotel worker, a hypodermic needle was found near his body.

Corey Dillon Charged in Drunk Driving Case

Former Bengals running back Corey Dillon has officially be charged with two misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence. The charges stem from his arrest in April during a routine traffic stop. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and driving while having a blood-alcohol level of .08% or more.

Pain Doctor Tied to 68 Overdose Deaths Found Guilty

A Kansas doctor and his wife linked to 68 drug overdose deaths have been found guilty of conspiracy and other charges by a federal jury. Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife Linda were charged with unlawful dispensing of drugs, health care fraud and money laundering as well as the deaths of 21 of the overdose patients.

Ireland Drops Drunk Driving Level to 0.05

Irish Republic lawmakers have joined other countries in reducing the blood alcohol limit for drunk driving. The parliament passed a Road Traffic bill that reduced the legal limit from 0.08 to 0.05. The same reduction has been recommended to British parliament.

Monday quotes

Every problem has a gift for you in its hands.

- Richard Bach

The future is like heaven - everyone exalts it, but no one wants to go there now.

- James Baldwin

I'd rather regret the things I have done than the things I have not.

- Lucille Ball

An error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.

- Orlando A. Battista

Action without study is fatal. Study without action is futile.

- Mary Beard

The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.

- Hada Bejar

Fear is an insidious virus. Given a breeding place in our minds it will eat away our spirit and block the forward path of our endeavors.

- James F. Bell

Life is a meadow and your happiness depends upon which flower you pick.

- Erik Bender

I have made mistakes, but have never made the mistake of claiming I never made one.

- James G. Bennet

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop every now and then and look around, you could miss it.

- Ferris Beuler

Reason often makes mistakes, but conscience never does.

- Josh Billings, pen name of Henry Wheeler Shaw

Trust in yourself. Your perceptions are often more accurate than you are willing to believe.

- Claudia Black

Friday questions

do you rely on a sponsor and

sponsor anyone yourself?

how do you handle the occasional

urge to drink or use?

have you ever been called upon

to help a friend or family member

with substance abuse?

is there any time of the year that

it's difficult to maintain sobriety?

substance abuse in the news

this week's news from About.com/Alcoholism;

Finally, Some Good News From Lindsay Lohan

When Lindsay Lohan's SCRAM ankle bracelet detected alcohol in her system during a MTV Awards party, the actress was adamant that she had consumed no alcohol at all. Turns out she was right and all the media outlets were wrong. A urine test administered shortly after the SCRAM alter turned up negative for alcohol.

Andrew Koppel's Death Caused by Drug Overdose, Alcohol

The death of Andrew Koppel, son of TV anchor Ted Kopple, was the result of an accidental combination of alcohol, prescription medication and illegal drugs. The New York City medical examiner four alcohol, heroin, cocaine and Valium in his system.

'Sopranos' Actor Joseph Gannascoli Gets DUI

Actor Joseph Gannascoli has been arrested in Tampa for drunken driving after he failed field sobriety tests and recorded a 0.111 blood-alcohol level on a breath test. Gannascoli, 51, is best known for his role as Vito Spatafore on the television series "The Sopranos."

'American Pie' Star Chris Klein Arrested for DUI

Actor Chris Klein was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after he was stopped at 3:13 a.m. on the 101 freeway in Los Angeles. The "American Pie" actor apparently failed a series of field sobriety tests.

Thomas Kinkade, 'Painter of Light' Gets DUI

"Painter of Light" artist Thomas Kinkade has been charged with driving under the influence after he was stopped in Carmel, California by a sheriff's deputy. The 52-year-old "most collected living American artist" was arrested Friday evening and released from jail Saturday morning.

'Samsung Heir' Busted With 506 Pounds of Pot

When Lisette Lee flew into Columbus, Ohio, in a private jet with her bodyguards and 13 suitcases filled with 506 pounds of marijuana, it was widely reported that she was one of the heirs of the Samsung Electronics fortune. However, it turned out that the 28-year-old Lee was not kin to the Lee family associated with Samsung.

Apparently, She Was the Designated Driver!

When police received a tip of a possible drunk driver they responded to the local Taco Bell where they found a 34-year-old woman passed out behind the wheel with the engine running in the drive-through lane. The police found several open cases of beer and bottles of pain killers in the vehicle. The officers woke up the two passengers in the car and arrested them, too.

Monday quotes

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

- Samuel Ullman

Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late.

- Robert R. Updegraff

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.

- Jim Valvano

It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't.

- Martin Van Buren

Any man who has been a teacher retains something of a student within him.

- Alfred de Vigny

You must continue to gain expertise, but avoid thinking like an expert.

- Denis Waitley

We're like the sea, people our waves; Necessarily we are associated with everyone.

- Ni'matullah Wali

To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee.

- William Walton

Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.

- John Wayne

To live with fear and not be afraid is the final test of maturity.

- Edward Weeks

You're never too old to become younger.

- Mae West

Friday questions

how long have you been in recovery?

have you ever attended alternative meetings;

such as Rational or Smart recovery?

what are the best aspects of staying clean?

who do you turn to, outside the program

when faced with problems?

when did you first realize you had a substance

abuse issue?

the usual suspects

this week's roundup from About.com/Alcoholism;

Judge Doubles Bail for Lindsay Lohan

Although she denies consuming any alcohol, a judge decided to double actress Lindsay Lohan's bail to $200,000 after her SCRAM ankle bracelet detected alcohol in her system on the night of the MTV awards party. Judge Marsha Revel actually revoked her $100,000 bail, issued a warrant for her arrest and then agreed to set a new bond at $200,000. Lohan is due back in court on July 6.

Charlie Sheen's Assault Sentencing Delayed

A reported plea deal in actor Charlie Sheen's misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a Christmas fight with his wife, Brooke Mueller, "hit a snag" at the last minute, delaying the hearing until July 12. Some news outlets were reporting that the "Two and a Half Men" star was going to plead no contest and be sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Officer Arrested on Suspicion of Selling Meth

A Los Angeles police officer has been arrested for selling methamphetamine to an informant. Federal authorities said Yoshio Romero, 28, sold more than 100 grams of meth to a buyer in Escondido and delivered it by leaving it in a candy box in his truck.

School Bus Driver Facing DUI Charge

A Philadelphia school bus driver was arrested after a motorist noticed that her driving was erratic and alerted police. Christine Rogers, 48, had a blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit when she was stopped. She was admitted to a hospital. There was one student on the bus when she was arrested.

Drunk Driver Gets 30 Years for Death of Teen

A Houston man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the drunk driving death of a 13-year-old girl. John Winnie pleaded guilty to failure to stop and render assistance and intoxication manslaughter after he crashed his vehicle into a school bus and then hit Nicole Lilame only a few feet from her home. Winnie was stopped by police four miles away.

Man Charged With Drunk Driving... His Lawnmower

Police figured something was amiss when they saw a 39-year-old Poughkeepsie man driving his lawnmower along the highway after midnight with the lights off. The officers discovered that Andrews E. Kilmer was intoxicated. Unfortunately for Kilmer, he had two previous alcohol-related convictions, making his midnight mower ride to a friend's house a felony in New York.

Monday quotes

Reality is a mysterious changing thing, because one's perception of it never remains the same.

- Joe Tan

We worry about what a child will be tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.

- Stacia Tauscher

Temptation rarely comes in working hours. It is in their leisure time that men are made or marred.

- W.M. Taylor

Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society.

- William Makepeace Thackeray

Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late.

- Robert R. Updegraff

He who is calm disturbs neither himself nor others.

- The Vatican Sayings, Epicurus

The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The meaning of life is to give it away.

- David Viscott

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

- Kurt Vonnegut

great article

found this on Psychology Today,

titled - Addiction, Self responsibility

and the Importance of Choice,

by Michael J. Formica

One of the central facets of addiction is the unwillingness to take responsibility. Without exercising the all-important watershed of self-responsibility, breaking the compulsive cycle that leads to addictive behavior is all but impossible. Systems like AA or the Minnesota Model, which allow the abdication of self-responsibility to The Program, The Meeting, The Sponsor and even God, are, from this perspective, clearly suspect and, as the numbers bear out, considerably -- and understatedly -- less than successful.

In this moment, the heads of 12 Step proponents are exploding, for I have blasphemed. Before you do explode, however, consider that, if you have maintained some semblance of sobriety for any extended period coincident to participating in a 12 Step-type program, you constitute less than 5% of all those who entered into that program within the 12 month period of your initial participation, and 95% of your brethren left that program sometime in those same 12 months. Given that the Harvard Medical School reports spontaneous remission of alcoholic behavior at 50%, rethinking the Holy Grail of AA and its sister systems, with their historically less than 5% success rate, might be worthwhile.

One of the core elements that inform our humanity is free will. When you were a child, the fastest way to get you to do something was to tell you not to do it, right? Has that really changed? If we consider driving rules as a metaphor for the similarly hard and fast rule set fostered by the Twelve Step contingent, what we find is that, by and large, we drive over the speed limit, we don't wear our seat belts all the time, we text and talk on the cell phone while driving, and we park where we're not supposed to park, sometimes even in the handicapped zone.

Think about that for a moment. The potential legal and financial consequences of that errant behavior are even more immediate than those of going on a run. So, what makes you think that the 12 Step template has any more influence in keeping you on the straight and narrow? Jamming a rigid behavioral template down onto a creature whose primary motivations are driven by free will is, by definition, a fool's errand. Why? Because what it comes down to is choice and choice is an interior process.

We cannot enter into any process of personal transformation without releasing our reliance on externals. Holding onto those externals enslaves us every bit as much as our addictions, our assumptions, our expectations, our model of the world and even our own self-perception might enslave us. As soon as we say, "I am powerless." that's exactly what we are - powerless. Choice, free will, the ability to script our own destiny, this is where the power - our power and the power to reclaim ourselves from our consumptive compulsions -- lies.

In all the years that I have personally lived and worked with addicts, whether as a friend, a professional, an educator or a spiritual teacher, I have not once witnessed someone come to their sobriety -- or at the very least some semblance of that sobriety -- without first saying, "I just don't want to be that person any more." Granted, this observation is anecdotal, but it speaks to the very essence of choice; choice driven by a willingness to change, which, in turn, drives interior transformation and, ultimately, the reclamation of personal power.

The choice "not to be that person any more" is at the core of self-responsibility. It is the quantum moment when a person re-defines themselves on their own terms and does so by taking hold of both their life and their personal experience of the world. From this viewpoint, the 12 Step model does not afford the necessary venue for the reclamation of self and personal power because it forces us into an unrelenting system of external compliance that is anathema to the very free will that defines us.

latest news

this weeks noteworthy substance abusers

from About.com/Alcoholism;

Chace Crawford Arrested For Marijuana Possession

Actor Chace Crawford, star of the television series "Gossip Girl," has been charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The 24-year-old was arrested by Plano, Texas police after they found a joint in the car he was in with a friend.

NY Real Housewife Sonja Arrested for DWI

The newest cast member of the television show "The Real Housewives of New York," Sonja Morgan, was arrested for driving while intoxicated after she failed roadside sobriety tests and refused to take a breath test. Police stopped her for not stopping at a stop sign.

Ted Koppel's Son, 40, Found Dead

Andrew Koppel, 40-year-old son of television anchor Ted Koppel, was found dead in the Washington Heights apartments. Witnesses said Koppel was binge drinking, buying drinks for others and drinking heavily in a Manhattan bar. Autopsy results are pending.

10-Year-Old Crushed Between Two Vehicles

A Chicago-area man has bee charged with multiple counts after a 10-year-old boy was crushed to death between to vehicles in the North Side Rogers Park area. Martin Candia, 30, was charged with aggravated DUI, reckless homicide, driving under the influence with a BAC above .08, running through a red light, driving on a suspended license, driving without insurance, failure to keep in lanes, failure to reduce speed, and transportation of possession of alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Barbershop Owner Arrested for Selling Marijuana

Pomona, California police discovered that customers were buying more than shaves and haircuts at a local barbershop. When bicycle police smelled marijuana coming from a parked car in the back of the shop, a search of Marlon Singleton's barbershop turned up 35 individually packaged bags of pot.

Apparently He Was a Bit Paranoid

When police showed up for an unrelated drug raid on an apartment on the first floor of a Dorchester apartment building, they were surprised to see Edgar Gonzalez quickly fleeing from the back door of this third-floor apartment. They soon found out why. A subsequent search of his apartment turned up 2,000 pounds - that's one ton - of high-grade marijuana

Monday quotes

Science is not only compatible with spirituality,; it is a profound source of spirituality.

- Carl Sagan

It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others.

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I look at victory as milestones on a very long highway.

- Joan Benoit Samuelson

Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius.

- George Sand

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

- Carl Sandburg

The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.

- Jean-Paul Sartre

Being defeated is only a temporary condition; giving up is what makes it permanent.

- Marilyn vos Savant

Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.

- Ruth Ann Schabacker

Some people change their ways when they see the light; others when they feel the heat.

- Caroline Schoeder

Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost.

- Robert H. Schuller

Friday questions

when did you first realize you had a

problem with drugs or alcohol?

what is your opinion of 12 step recovery?

how do you avoid that first drink or drug?

is the inclination to expand consciousness

an innate part of human behavior?

where do you see the recovery field in 20 years?

why do people continue to abuse alcohol

and drugs despite the legal, moral and

health consequences?

more news

this weeks news of alcohol & drug sagas

from About.com/Alcoholism;

Rip Torn Cleared of DUI Charge in Connecticut

Actor Rip Torn had his drunk driving charge dismissed by a Connecticut judge after he completed a alcohol education program. He completed the in-patient program in March and finished the out-patient, after-care program, his attorney said. Hopefully, Lindsay Lohan is paying attention.

Charlie Sheen Considering Plea Bargain?

Several media outlets are reporting that actor Charlie Sheen is considering taking a plea deal in connection with charges filled against him after a violent argument with his estranged wife Brooke Mueller in Colorado at Christmas. He faces charges of felony menacing, misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor criminal mischief.

Chargers Safety Ellison Arrested With 100 Vicodin Pills

San Diego Chargers safety Kevin Ellison has been arrested for possession of a controlled substance after he was stopped in southern California for speeding. A search of his vehicle turned up 100 Vicodin pills, for which Ellison did not have a prescription.

Mary Richardson Kennedy Pleads Not Guilty to DWI

Mary Richardson Kennedy, wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., entered a not guilty plea last week to driving while intoxicated charges in Bedford Town Court, NY. She was arrested May 15 after she drove her car over a curb outside a school. Her husband did not appear in court with her.

Man Busted With Cocaine-Filled Chocolate Truffles

U.S. Custom agents arrested a Connecticut man returning to the U.S. from Medellin, Columbia with more than 15 pounds of cocaine. Robert Lopera tried to hide most of the $500,000 worth of cocaine inside fake Ferrero Rocher chocolate truffles. The rest he tried to hide inside pistachio shells.

Stepdad Arrested After 2-Year-Old Found Drunk

A Kentucky man has been charged with criminal abuse after he admitted giving his 2-year-old stepdaughter enough gin mixed with iced tea that the little girl had a blood-alcohol content three times the legal limit. The child was tested after her mother came home from work, kissed her on the cheek and knew immediately that something was wrong. Hospital workers determined that the girl had a blood alcohol content of .25 percent.