A HOME EDUCATION IN ADDICTION

Bill Moyers' Son Taught Him Hard Truths About Drugs

LIKE most of us, Bill Moyers thought he knew all he needed to know about
addiction. Then it came into his home and pulled up a chair.

``I had covered addiction, done documentaries about drugs and alcohol,''
says the veteran newsman, ``but not until it came close to home did I
really begin to see deep into the experience of addiction.''

The eye-opener for Moyers and his wife, Judith, was their discovery that
their oldest son, William, a seasoned journalist who had worked for the
Dallas Times Herald, Newsday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune and CNN, was a
drug addict.

As they helped their son struggle back toward a normal life -- he's been in
successful recovery for about 10 years and is now director of public policy
for the Hazelden Foundation, a pioneering rehabilitation center in
Minnesota -- the Moyerses learned so much more about what they now believe
to be the country's No. 1 health problem that their inquiries have led to
``Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home,'' which begins a three-night run on
KQED-Ch. 9 Sunday night.

``It's not the story of our son,'' says Bill Moyers. ``(He) figures in it,
here and there, in a discreet way, (but) I don't think journalists should
become the story. What we've tried to do is put a human face on addiction
and to look at what science is telling us about addiction.''

A family affair

The 5 1/2-hour series turned out to be a family undertaking that occupied
two years of their lives. Judith Moyers served as executive producer and
together they did everything from raising financing down to the last-minute
editing.

Though they wrestled with the wisdom of discussing their son's problems
publicly, the Moyerses recognized that others already had reported on
William Moyers' drug problems. Including him therefore ``seemed a natural
and honest thing to do,'' says Bill Moyers. William gave the project his
blessing.

They also encountered great optimism about the direction of research into
treatment for addicts. Breakthroughs are being made in genetic research and
in methods of behavioral modification.

``None of us is certain that, as a society, we're going to come to terms
with addiction,'' says Bill Moyers. ``Optimism is not the job of
journalists, nor is pessimism. Our job is to tell the stories we find and
hope that they enable society to see an issue differently for the first
time.''

One thing that the Moyers feel is undeniable is the enormity of the
problem: An estimated 88 million Americans who are either chemically
addicted or live with someone who is.

``This is an issue that runs deeply within our society,'' he says.

Yet both Bill and Judith Moyers admit they were taken by surprise when they
learned their son was one of those statistics. They thought of themselves
and their three children as a close-knit family, perhaps even immune to
such things.

``My grandfather was an alcoholic and my uncle was an alcoholic, but
neither Judith nor I have personally had any problem with addiction,'' says
Moyers. ``We were a close family that was attuned to family values. We
spent a lot of good time together.''

They've examined and re-examined their own behavior countless times in
search of answers to why William became an addict. He has told them, ``I
can't point to a single thing'' that might have pushed him in that direction.

Grappling with guilt

They also lived through their son's treatment-and-relapse cycles. These,
they now know, are normal, and are not cause to give up on people who want
to end their addiction. They began to deal with their own guilt feelings.

``The major guilt that I feel is that I was so ill-informed,'' says Judith.
``I thought because he was a high-achieving person that he was OK. I think
that's very typical of American parents. We want our children to be
achievers, don't we? It never occurred to me that he was in jeopardy. He
didn't crash until he was 30 years old.''

Bill Moyers wondered for a long time if his career in journalism and
politics -- he was press aide to President Johnson and was deputy director
of the Peace Corps -- had been part of the problem. Was he away too much
when his son was young?

``I was not a `there' father in a sense,'' he says. ``And one hypothesis
about addiction is it's an effort to fill a hole in your heart. I don't
know. I know children of highly absent parents who never have a problem
with addiction. You just can't make generalizations from particular
experiences.''

In their series, the Moyerses have tried to tell stories through the eyes
of addicts and their families, and to update us on current research into
the problem and how to deal with it.

Taking individual responsibility for your addiction is part of the
Moyerses' outlook, but they strongly believe everybody needs to know a lot
more about the issue first.

``We are not teaching our children properly (about it) in schools,'' says
Judith Moyers. ``We're not teaching them in our homes. And we're also
allowing that stigma to remain, so that a person doesn't want to go for
help.''

As they see it, their PBS series is a small step on a long journey that the
country needs to take -- soon.

Moyers on Addiction:

Close to Home

Parts 1-2: 9-11 Sunday night

Part 3: 9-10:30 Monday night

Parts 4-5: 9-11 Tuesday night

Where: KQED-TV, Ch. 9