"Loss Of Innocence"

We were sent this book by Ron Clem and his daughter Carren Clem quite some time ago, and for a variety of reasons, we've only had time now to place it on our site.  Frankly, in a perfect world, we would have put it on the site ten minutes after we finished reading it, because it is nothing less than outstanding, and easily the best first person account of the meth nightmare we've ever read.  (and we've pretty much read them all.). This book pulls no punches, and in our opinion, it tells the raw truth about addiction without the typical exaggeration, distortion and sensationalism.  And what's really terrific about this story is that it shows addiction does happen to good parents and good families, and to what appear to be trouble-free kids.  And it also shows that recovery is possible.

About the authors:

It's not too often that you have someone so accomplished and involved that you have to devote an entire page on your website to list everything they've achieved and are currently involved in.  But in the case of Ron Clem, that's what we have to do.  And you can also learn about Carren by clicking HERE as well.

"Dying For Meth"

Dying For Meth was produced by Full Fathom 5 Productions, the award-winning film producers from California.  There may be better DVD's out there about the devastating effects of meth out there, but we have yet to see it. We've had several people send us presentations about meth including Powerpoint projects, video and web slide shows.  And in virtually every case, they were either outdated, full of errors, or heavily reliant on scare-tactics and "sermonizing."

Not so with this DVD.  "Dying For Meth" shows a small town in the U.S. that has literally become inundated with methamphetamine over multiple generations.  If this story wasn't real, we really don't think you could sell it as a fictional script, because it's too "unreal."  This is must see viewing.  Here's the link to Full Fathom 5 Productions And once you've watched and/or presented "Dying For Meth," send us a quick email with your thoughts on it. Your opinion is important to us.

"Understanding Meth" - The Epidemic

In providing the background to writing his book, "Understanding Meth," Don Sutton admits "he is not a doctor, nor is he an expert in addictions, with a long list of degrees." He just describes himself as a fortunate individual who unfortunately experienced meth - and every other drug he could get his hands on. Yet somehow, he survived. He goes on to describe his long "friendship" with methamphetamine, and how it helped to destroy many years of his life, and nearly destroy all of his dreams, including his marriage and family.  And again, somehow, he survived to write about it and share his story.

He also shares his troubled childhood - the days of desertion by his mother, the denial by his father, and the sexual abuse by his own grandfather for nearly four years.  And not surprisingly, Don was an alcoholic at the young age of 15, a drug addict by the age of 19 and a drug dealer at age 21. He drank and used drugs for nearly 25 horrible years, which included a failed attempt at suicide. Yet time and time again, somehow Don Sutton survived.

And perhaps that's really why this book should get anyone's attention who wants to understand the real world of methamphetamine specifically, as well as the realities of substance abuse and recovery in general. Because here is a man who descended very deeply into these worlds, yet he survived. And while he may not have a degree from an institution of higher learning, he clearly has a Master's Degree in experience, and a PhD in survival. And to us, those are two forms of education and knowledge that are by their very nature, extremely rare and of tremendous value.

Because we can talk about theories, studies, clinical findings, and empirical data until we're blue in the face.  But this is a man who can truly say, I've been there, I've done that, and I survived to tell the story.  And we don't know about you, but that gets our attention.

Here are links to two of Don Sutton's sites:

Understanding Meth - The Epidemic

SayNoToMeth

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