“Just Say No” is Irrelevant

Busting Addiction and Its Myths

In this podcast, we discuss why “Just Say No” was a well-intentioned but naïve idea.

We learn that:

1. Science shows that addiction and/or alcoholism are brain disorders that cause affected people to lose the power of choice.
2. Therefore “Just Say No” only works in the very early going, say as a teenager who actually listens to his parents before he becomes addicted.
3. There is astounding and definitive evidence that the brain can heal from what was once thought to be an irreversible condition. This does not mean that addicts are cured.
4. What it does mean is that new, healthy ways of thinking and acting can create new neural pathways to replace the old, unhealthy thinking and behaviour.
5. That truth has been known since 1939 when the book Alcoholics Anonymous was published, describing the 12-step process which has been shown, by experience, to restore “hopeless” cases to sanity and a full and happy life.