THURMOND'S WIFE JOINS THE FIGHT AGAINST ADDICTION

A Recovering Alcoholic, She Lends Her Name to a Clemson Program

CLEMSON, S.C. - As her husband leaves his legendary career in
public service, Nancy Moore Thurmond is joining Clemson University in
a statewide fight against addiction.

The Nancy Moore Thurmond Initiative on Substance Abuse will be
directed at many types of addiction, from alcoholism to gambling. U.S.
Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., retired to Edgefield this year after
serving 48 years in the Senate.

Nancy Thurmond, a recovering alcoholic, said those in recovery have a
responsibility to reach out to others who need help.

"If we can see ourselves as others see us, we all have a little addict
running around inside us," she said.

The initiative, led by Clemson, aims to keep researchers,
policymakers, and service providers on the cutting edge in addiction
prevention and recovery.

Twenty board members, representing 34 drug and alcohol abuse programs,
met for the first time Friday.

Thurmond said she found herself drinking and driving even after her
23-year-old daughter, Nancy Moore, was killed by a drunken driver in
1993. The message resonated with Bob Toomey, interim director of the
Department of Health and Human Services.

"I have the life I lived when addicted and the life I live in
recovery," he said. "In the recovery community are people who are
walking miracles."

The initiative could become a clearinghouse of research and policy
evaluation in the Southeast, said Clemson Mayor Larry Abernathy, who
developed the idea. Abernathy is an assistant professor in addiction
counseling at Clemson and a retired addiction counselor.

"There is a virtually immeasurable amount of expertise in this room,"
he said.

Partners in the program include the Department of Alcohol and Other
Drug Abuse Services, the Norman Arnold School of Public Health at the
University of South Carolina, the Medical University of South
Carolina, S.C. State University and the American Lung
Association.