New Peer Recovery Group
Most of us are affected by the drug and alcohol issues in the Upper Valley and surrounding areas. We might be affected ourselves or through a family member, spouse, friend, colleague or child.
We are writing to promote public awareness that a new peer recovery support group will be starting soon. Our hope is that people will come together to get the sick and suffering the help they need to lead them into a new life of recovery. There is too much sadness being created every day. People with substance abuse disorders are fighting for their lives, minute by minute. We have to come together to make changes that are supportive of recovery.
This is a disease; it doesn’t discriminate by gender, race or socio-economic class. Nobody asks to fight this alone on a daily basis.
The new peer recovery support group will be starting Tuesday, April 12, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Lebanon Library and will be held every Tuesday following. This is a new exciting chance for people in recovery to connect with each other and learn from one another. Each week, folks will have the opportunity to check in, talk about daily struggles and get advice and understanding from peers.
As recent recovery coach graduates, I and Cheri Bryer will be facilitating the group. We both bring different backgrounds and experiences with this disease. We hope that people will be able to get a sense of self back, gain trust, and learn to live a healthy, wholesome life, and realize that they are not alone.
Courtney Vorachak
Lebanon
A Clear Case of Self-Interest
Jim Gold’s op-ed (“Vermont Has Opportunity to Greatly Expand Dental Access,” April 6) discussing pending legislation headed to the Vermont House that, if passed, will likely expand dental services through the recognition of licensed dental therapists was spot-on. I do, however, have one small disagreement with the good dentist, though, and that is his assertion that the Vermont Dental Association’s opposition to the bill “defies logic.”
The association’s opposition is rational and logical. Even if one has dental insurance, a trip to the dentist can be quite expensive. The dental association, however, apparently could not care less about those in need of basic but pricey dental care. Instead, the association is much more interested in protecting its guild and promoting the financial self-interest of its members. It thus opposes the legislation because of fears that licensed dental therapists will offer the same basic services that dentists offer, but the licensed dental therapists will do so at a substantially lower price. Cost-sensitive savvy consumers will opt for the services of a licensed dental therapist over those of a dentist for basic dental care with negative implications for dentists’ incomes.
Unfortunately, such anticompetitive, protectionist behavior is common. Mention, for example, licensed legal technicians at a Bar Association meeting, and you best have on your running shoes so you can exit the proceedings promptly before you are battered by briefcase-wielding barristers. Similarly, Uber and Lyft provoke cries about passenger safety among those desperate souls in the taxicab sector trying to hold on to market share, and if you want to unleash a stream of profanities, mention Airbnb to a Hilton official.
Thus, Dr. Gold, the Vermont Dental Association’s opposition to the licensed dental therapist bill is entirely logical. It’s just plain wrong.
Mark Latham
Hartford
Marijuana Is a Serious Problem
I was thoroughly disappointed, but not surprised, by Jim Kenyon’s column about the screening of The Other Side of Cannabis at Hartford High School. To compare a movie where real people had the courage to share their stories about struggling with addiction to Reefer Madness falls in line with our country’s problem in accepting all addictions as a real thing.
Just because marijuana may not be heroin does not mean it is not a serious addiction. For those living with it and the people they are close to, this is a very real issue. The viewing was not just for students — that’s why it was being shown at night and not during health class. Those students were there to facilitate a community discussion. Sure, they may have seemed bored in the back row watching it again, but they gave up a lot of time to put on this event. Don’t belittle the commitment of a young adult because he or she becomes distracted, especially when you spent so much time looking back at them and not getting the real message from the movie.
This night was not about legalizing marijuana or the war on drugs, which is a term our country officially left behind as counterproductive in 2009. At least it was left behind by everyone but people like Matt Simon, who make a living off of making marijuana legal. The evening offered a great opportunity for community members, especially parents, to have a dialogue about the negative effects of marijuana use and how to talk to teens about these very real, potential health consequences. Not everyone will have a bad experience with marijuana — that is true for all drugs. But as a state that is facing serious issues with addiction, we need to be talking about addiction and how your family history affects it. Thank you, Second Growth, Hartford Community Coalition and the student volunteers for putting this wonderful event on.
Rachel Williams
Hartland
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Editor’s Note
A letter faulting Margaret Drye, president of the Hanover Consumer Cooperative’s board of directors, has been removed because it focused on a quote from the April 2 annual meeting that was inaccurately rendered in the April 3 Sunday Valley News.