HOPE FOR ADDICTS

The week of November 16 is National Addictions Awareness Week, and
we're in sore need of awareness to not only the heartbreak of
debilitating addiction and the homeless, but also to the infinitely
more common and closeted addictions of those checking our groceries,
cutting our hair and writing our prescriptions.

Functional addicts to legal, illegal, hard and soft drugs fill our
suburbs and office towers, and they're finding willpower alone-and
often willpower together with all the available psychological
supports-to be insufficient to help them walk away.

But the approach used by Vancouver's Agora Regeneration Clinic chases
addiction-even hard-core, long-standing addiction-with surprising
success, and does so with minimal withdrawal discomfort. "One of our
success stories is that of a 73-year-old woman who'd been on addictive
prescription medications for 45 years," Maggie Gold tells me over the
phone from Vancouver. "She went through our 15-day program and now no
longer needs her sleeping pills, pain killers or anti-depressants."

The cornerstone of their approach is amino acid therapy, and it gets
at the heart of what starts and then feeds chemical dependencies.
Addiction is known to be tied to genetic predisposition, and it's
known to be triggered by psychological and social factors such as
trauma and the absence of integration into family and culture-but is
also known to be inextricably linked to faulty neurotransmission of
brain chemicals.

What happens when stress or pain or drugs disrupt neurotransmission is
that we begin to experience any number of unpleasant and sometimes
debilitating symptoms: a reduced ability to experience pleasure in the
ordinary, irritability, anxiety, low self-esteem, sleep disturbances,
lack of motivation, physical pain, depression, obsessions, rage.

To manage those symptoms, many of us resort to ever-increasing doses
of prescription or non-prescription options, or our own unique mix of
both. But things that affect brain function further damage
neuroreceptors, keeping the fire of addiction and faltering
neurotransmission stoked.

The good news is that amino acid, essential fatty acid, vitamin and
mineral therapies can repair neuroreceptors and restore normal
neurotransmission. Those who've tried it often say they've never felt
"normal" before, never felt this good, never really heard the music
before.

At Agora, it's all done on an out-patient basis. Amino acids are
administered intravenously, which delivers optimal absorption.
Extensive lab testing, specific full-spectrum vitamin, mineral and
essential fatty acid nutritional support, infrared sauna, acupuncture,
massage and psychological components round out the program.

Its sister clinic in Colorado, NORA, operating longer than the
one-year-old Agora Clinic, has helped over 14 000 people get off
everything from alcohol and street drugs to prescription pain and
psychiatric meds with amino acid therapy, 80 per cent of which are
still clean and sober five years later.

This, in light of the high relapse rates of conventional addiction
therapies is astounding success. It's a shame Agora is Canada's only
naturopathic detox centre, and it's a shame they have no government
funding and that many seeking this kind of treatment simply can't
afford it. I'd think our government, in its opposition to InSite and
its absolute certainty that the only moral thing to do is to get
addicts off drugs might want to promote and fund programs such as Agora's.

We need to address addiction from all angles. We need to set aside
moral superiority and judgment, and respect those unable to commit to
rehab by offering safe injection until they're ready to take that
plunge. We need to fund prevention programs for those at risk due to
the genetic, social or trauma cards they've been handed. We need
prevention programs that go beyond "just say no" and include real
education about risk factors. And we need to give the reality of
faulty neurotransmission involved in addictions due respect. Agora's
holistic focus delivers respect for the underlying issues and offers
the chemical building blocks necessary for healing. Edmonton needs its
own Agora; naturopathic doctors wanting more information can contact
Maggie Gold through Agora's website agoraforlife.net for more
information.