For alcohol withdrawal phone any of these facilities:

• Dakota County Receiving Center in Hastings, 651 437 4209
• Salvation Army Detox in Minneapolis, 612 629 6769. Here the State will pick up the charges. You must be over .20 blood alcohol content or be in active withdrawal. (This is indicated by tremors, distorted thought, DTs or other physical observations.)
• Pine Shores Detox in Pine City MN 612 629 6769.
• Mission Care Detox in Plymouth MN 763 559 1402 They do not admit diabetics.
• Ramsey County Receiving Center in St.Paul 651 266 4009. The fee is about $119 per night.
• Harbor Lights Detox is affiliated with Salvation Army Detox in Minneapolis 612 338 0113.
• Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center 763 576 5557 they address alcohol detox only.
• Unity Hospital in Anoka 763 780 7821 They will address narcotic withdrawal.
• Also noteworthy for alcohol detox in sub-acute situations, is Preventive Medicine Associates in Plymouth. Jean Eckerly M.D.

Their IV drip, while not as powerful as diazopans, is very fortifying, restoring lost nutrients. It can restore strength on an out-patient basis. Phone 612 593 9458. The drip is probably similar to that used at Health Recovery Center in Minneapolis. Health Recovery Center does not offer their to non-clients. They are a pioneer treatment facility with an emphasis on restoring nutritional balance in alcohol users.

Most Hospitals which offer Chemical Dependency Treatment also offer detoxification. Some or all of the detoxification facilities offer counseling. Counselors are helpful in arranging formal treatment. They will probably recommend it. Once again, the best resource for solution is you. If you seek assistance, be very demanding of the content and be very demanding of recognition of your individuality. You are not a specimen.

Part Two: Acheiving abstinence (or something like it).

Most resources for acheiving and maintainig abstinence will suggest total and maintained abstinence. This applies to any addiction; illegal drugs, alcohol, tobbacco, prescription drugs, behaviors such as sex, eating, not eating, spending, gambling, watching television, and so on. The commotion and confusion which surrounds our number one destructive habit, alcohol use, has caused a number of behavior or "process" addictions to be recognized as medically addressable.

Some camps in the addiction industry adhere to the conventional perspective on addiction which was nurtured primarily by Alcoholics Annonymous founder Bill Wilson and by subsequent members of that fellowship.

The two tenets of the AA perspective which I will attend to in discussion are: Powerlessness over the substance or behavior, and the so-called disease concept.

Powerlessness describes a condition where human will, effort or potential cannot solve the individual addiction. The solution is vested in a Higher Power or God.

The "disease concept" describes addiction as a physiological condition peculiar to addicts, which is incurable and controlled by, among other things, group support, spiritual awakening, and helping others.

Those camps which do not adhere to this perspective, generally suggest personal responsibility is the solution, accompanied by education, nutrition, alternative medicine, cognative skills and other practices. The effectiveness of the various strategies are not within the scope of this compendium. I suggest you contact EASE Non-profit for further information.

It is common American practice for problem alcohol users to be referred to AA. More and more of late, alcohol problems are being referred to "Chemical Dependency Treatment."

These practices have not affected the overall problem significantly. It remains enmeshed in the American consciousness, however, to make these referrals. Some industrial treatments are adopting perspectives on addiction which may improve the outcome figures. Again, the best resource for any solution is you. If you seek assistance, be very demanding of the content and be very demanding of recognition of your individuality. You are not a specimen.

Those camps mentioned who do not adhere to the AA perspective on addiction are commonly suggesting that the disease concept of AA and the majority of treatments may be actually producing very real addicts, by suggestion and persuasion and by enumeration.

Please be advised that most resources will advocate introduction of the AA perspective on addiction. This is traditional. Little by little, the altenative perspectives are being explored and offered. These alternative perspectives generally conflict with those of AA and regardless of marketing you will need to make a choice of strategies based on your own priorities and accumulation of information.

In general, these resources can help in a crisis:

Hennepin County Crisis Intervention	612 347 3161
United Way First Call for Help	612 335 5000
Alcoholics Annonymous Intergroup	952 922 0880 in the west metro or 651 227 5502 in the East Metro.
Chrysalis Center for Women crisis line	612 871 2603
MN compulsive gambling hotline	800 437 3641
Hennepin County Chemical Health Services	612 879 3501

HCCHS offers various programs including assesments, antabuse program, accupuncture, counseling and general living skills. They also house Salvation Army Detox. They can refer you to a number of places which are able to perform chemical dependency assesments.

For alcohol specifically:

Generally, people turn to chemical dependency treatment as a result of finding themselves unable to abstain on their own. There are numerous therapies which address addictions and it is not unwise to explore them prior to entering a treatment. If you have found that you are unable to refrain from use for long enough to give any therapy a chance, you may want to try inpatient treatment. Outpatient treatments will ask or require that you refrain from use, as will most individual counselors. There is that factor of removal from the familiar environment at inpatient facilities to consider. The outcome success may not be significantly higher with inpatient, but at least you'll get a good start, free of the routine concerns of your environment. It is also considerably more appealing to detoxify in the setting of a treatment facility than in a facility dedicated simply to detoxification. More on treatment in part three.

Aside from placement in a treatment facility, pharmacology offers naltrexone, patented by Dupont Merck, marketed as ReVia. Consult any Medical Doctor about this drug for alcohol abstinence. It should be accompanied by therapy, according to Robert Whitney, M.D., Head of Medical Services in Research Institute on Addictions' Clinical Research Center.

Pharmacology also offers Antabuse which reacts with alcohol to cause very serious discomfort. If you take the Antabue, DO NOT take alcohol! This may be effective in early abstinence efforts.

For Tobbacco:

Any physician can advise you on smoking cessation: Nicotine patches are sold over the counter, as is nicotine gum. There is some doubt as to the effectiveness of these. They comprise an expensive regimen which ends in the adict still having some nicotine in the system to contend with.

There are three programs available in the Metro Area which I can mention:

The American Cancer Society at 612 925 2772

The American Lung Association at 651 227 8014

Stop Smoking Program Hennepin County Medical Center at 612 347 2121

You can also approach immmediate abstinence with alternative medicines such as homeopathy, herbal remedies, accupuncture, neurotherapy, naturopathy, biofeedback and so on.

For homeopathy you can consult most natural foods or health foods stores. The remedies themselves are available everywhere from practitioners offices to supermarkets. Knowing what to take is the trick. An interview by a practitioner is suggested to identify indications specific to the individual. Unlike pharmacology, homeopathy is well suited for individual behavioral idiosyncracies. The yellow pages lists several homeopaths including:

Homeopathic Practitioners Limited in Plymouth at 763 525 9321 and

Present Moments in Minneapolis at 612 824 3157.

Richard Hruby D.O. at 952 920 0844.

Hennepin County Chemical Health Services at 612 879 3501 offers accupuncture as do many practitioners in the yellow pages.

Neurotherapy addresses addiction matters. You can check with John Anderson at Minnesota Neurotherapy Institute in St Louis Park at 952 396 7029.

Health oriented periodicals such as The Phoenix or Twin Cities Wellness lists numerous alternative medicine Professionals. Twin Cities Wellness can be reached at 612 338 0164 or emailed TCWELLNESS@aol.com

Part Three:

Maintaining abstinence (or sanity).

Again we cannot avoid the conflicting camps of addiction thought. It apparently is rather important to look at your own beliefs and/or ideas when choosing abstinence strategies. By and large there are two aspects to this choice. Spiritual remedy versus free-will, and ritual versus non-ritual.

You can continue abstinence with ongoing medicine and therapy or you can continue abstinence with support groups or you can continue abstinence with nothing but education and free-will.

The supply of anti-depressants, antabuse or methodone will not run dry. But speaking from experience, the lure of mood altering behaviors can easily outweigh the alure of reliance on a substitute chemical. I hope that if you choose this route, you have success. It is simple and straight forward.

Less straightforward are support groups, also known as recovery groups, and education. With the exception of Rational Recovery, education designed for formerly addicted individuals is toward understanding mental health, cognitive skills and the experience of other former addicts. The mental health education is offered in response to the idea that individuals use chemicals or compulsive behavior to suppress uncomfortable feelings or thoughts.

Recovery groups, as typified in the AA meeting, are the most familiar strategies. The national offshoots of AA include Narcotics Annonymous, Cocaine Annonymous, Overeaters Annonymous, Nicotine Annonymous, Sexaholics Annonymous, Spenders Annonymous, Adult Children of Alcoholics, Clutterers Annonymous, and numerous others. You can consult AA intergroup for phone numbers to the above annoymouse fellowships. The traditions of these fellowships respect personal anonymity because of the personal nature of the ailments addressed. There are traditionally no spokespersons for them. The literature on the subject of so-called 12-step recovery abounds. The primary work is the original Alcoholics Anonymous, (Anonymous, New York, Alcoholics Anonymous World Service, Incorporated., 1939. 1955, 1976). Locally, you can obtain them at meetings or from Intergroup in St. Louis Park 612 922 0880 or in St. Paul at 651 227 5502. The Narcotics Annonymous basic text is another significant volume, obtainable at the same offices. The anonymous or 12-step groups are fairly adherant to the idea that addiction cannot be helped by human means, that a higher power, or god, or the ultimate authority will relieve those who seek.

Alternative national recovery groups include Secular Organization for Sobriety, Women for Sobriety, the Empower or 16 steps association, and numerous others. You can consult Ease Non-profit easenp@yahoo.com for phone numbers or you may consult periodicals such as The Phoenix, whose phone number is 651 291 2691.

Also helpful for alternative chemical dependency resources is Muscala Chemical Health in Edina at 952 920 1351 and AA Alternatives, 366 North Prior Ave., Suite 102, St. Paul MN 55104 651/645 6100.

I will briefly address these alternatives or independents individually to the best of my ability, in no particular order.

Alternatives to recovery groups or medicine are essentially educational or philosophical approaches. Obviously, philosophies are numerous. Those that address a specific habit or dependency are here discussed as education.