Recovery Almanac

Sharing the history of recovery in America, one day at a time, while also noting key developments in public policy and addiction health care. #OTD

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

#OTD in 1990, former U.S. Sen. Harold Hughes founded the Society of Americans for Recovery (SOAR), which would fold in late 1994 but help inspire the founding a few years later of @FACESandVOICES, which still thrives today.

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#OTD in 1976, in Minnesota, something remarkable happened in the world of addiction recovery and recovery advocacy. https://t.co/Gg8dfznLd3

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#OTD in 1988, the White House Conference for a Drug-Free America (127 appointed citizens including @hazldnbettyford's Gordy Grimm) issued a report w/ 100 recommendations. Among them: creation of a Cabinet-level drug director & a nat'l prevention agency. https://t.co/W8M0OZ8cE6

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#OTD in 1986, basketball star Len Bias died from cocaine use a day after signing w/ the Boston Celtics. Adding to the tragedy was the response from Congress, which passed mandatory minimum sentences that swept thousands of low-level drug offenders—most young & black—into prison.

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#OTD in 1944, the first issue of the AA Grapevine was published. https://t.co/nfoYuPF5nk

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Home to items associated w/ the Women's Christian Temperance Union, Anti-Saloon League, Prohibition & the founding of AA, it's a resource for folks interested in America's response to addiction & the social, economic, political, medical & religious history shaping it. (3 of 3)

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On May 28, 1993, the Hazelden Pittman Archives were dedicated in a celebration at @hazldnbettyford in Center City, MN. (1 of 3)

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

The collection includes thousands of books, pamphlets, oral histories, newspapers, journals, scholarly articles, magazines, film & TV scripts, cartoons, music, posters, pins, buttons & other ephemera -- covering more than two centuries of addiction & recovery history. (2 of 3)

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

#OTD in 1949, the Hazelden Foundation officially opened its doors near Center City, MN. The nonprofit grew into a global treatment leader, sparking a movement--which continues today--to treat people who have addiction with compassion, dignity and respect.

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

@NAATPoffice filed a brief in the case, arguing that primary alcoholism is not willful misconduct. And three justices wrote a powerful dissent. https://t.co/uBbElv6Iu9

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

#OTD in 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court sadly ruled 4-3 that the VA could continue to deny disability & other benefits to veterans w/ alcoholism b/c it's caused by ''willful misconduct.'' Listen to 2 recovery advocates at the center of Traynor v. Turnage: https://t.co/CHnd3weBn5.

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#OTD in 1998, William C. Moyers, his father Bill Moyers & other notable Americans testified before a U.S. Senate committee in support of increasing funding for addiction prevention, treatment & recovery. And boy did William punch it home at the end! Watch: https://t.co/7UD7Oa5dsV

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

#OTD in 2010, the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Obama. Known more commonly as the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare, it expanded coverage of mental health & substance use disorder benefits (among others) & parity protections to millions.

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

Later, most determined that the so-called "Keeley Cure" for addiction was "likely, at best, a placebo or, at worst, another form of poison." (2 of 2)
https://t.co/gvdYweOvFM

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

#OTD in 1881, Dr. L.E. Keeley patented the design for his unique bottle containing the mysteriously effective double-chloride of gold remedies for drunkenness, opioid addiction, neurasthenia (nervous exhaustion), and tobacco addiction. (1 of 2)

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#OTD in 2014, "The Anonymous People" opened theatrically with a weeklong run at the Quad Cinema in New York City's Union Square. https://t.co/5gdpEYc47W

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

On 3/13/1989, Bill Bennett was confirmed as first director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, appointed by President George H.W. Bush & serving for 19 months. Bennett stood up @ONDCP as an official working agency on Oct. 27, 1989.

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

#OTD in 1994, Betty Ford & Rosalynn Carter also co-authored a @USATODAY op-ed & testified before Congress in favor of expanding behavioral health benefits, the only time in U.S. history that two First Ladies testified together on the same issue. https://t.co/0NXmdXsXPs

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

#OTD in 1994, former First Ladies Betty Ford & Rosalynn Carter held a press conference at the National Press Club, encouraging inclusion of mental health and substance use treatment benefits in the national health care reform plan. (1 of 2)

[Recovery Almanac @RecoveryAlmanac]

On March 6, 2014, @MBotticelliBMC became acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Confirmed 11 months later, he was the 1st person in long-term recovery to lead ONDCP. Rather than Drug Czar he preferred the informal title Recovery Czar.