Rev. Maggie from Durham, N.C.
A search for emotional pain relief is easily as powerful a driver as physical pain in addictions. Also -- we as a society do not tell the truth about addiction's cost to the individual, their society and family. Look at people who see Elvis or Michael Jackson as heroes -- these men were desperately addicted and should be lifted up as teaching examples of the terrible price of addiction. We must confront these "icons" and say the truth, especially to our teens. I've been visiting in prisons and jails and juvenile facilities for 16 years. I also worked as a chaplain with recovering addicts at a VA hospital.