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Dr. Elders speaks on substance abuse and violence at "The day you see the truth and cease to speak it is the day you start to die," former U.S. Surgeon
General Dr. Jocelyn Elders, quoting her mother, told the hundreds of people gathered at the
Chapter's 29th Annual Alcoholism Institute held at the Fordham University Graduate School of
Social Service on May 14.
"So you know I plan on living a long time," said the outspoken physician who was appointed by
President Clinton to be the nation's second woman and first African American Surgeon General in
1993. Her outspokenness caused her to step down from that post, but has not kept her from
telling it like it is, which is what she did as Institute plenary speaker.
The theme of the Institute was "Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Violence--Making the
Connection."
"Drug policy is not based on sound public policy: Sixty-one billion dollars is spent on fighting
drug and alcohol abuse, most of it on prisons. We build more prisons than schools...Uncle Sam is
the fattest jailer in the world," she stated, adding: "Those fighting the drug war are not paying
attention to the data: Of the 30 to 40 million Americans who used drugs in the past year, 2.7
million are true addicts: Yet there are only 500,000 beds available. Drug and/or alcohol abuse are
factors in 60% of the crimes committed by the 1.3 million people in U.S. prisons.
She noted that 70% of HIV in women is related to drug and alcohol abuse; that 1 in 5 new AIDS
cases in the 20-29 year age group is drug related; that 40% of industrial accidents are
drug/alcohol related; and that 70% of drug users "go to work every day."
She recommended advocating "...what's in the best interest of the public health of people" by
"...educating the power brokers, the community, and the churches."
In her plea for an enlightened drug policy based on early intervention, she said "It's time to stop
moving the furniture around in the living room and build a new house."
Dr. Annaclare van Dalen, Director of Community Education at the Family Violence Prevention
Center of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, was the second plenary speaker of
the day. Dr. van Dalen spoke of the "intertwining of drugs, family violence, and crime," noting
that there are 1 million adolescents in the U.S. with post-traumatic stress disorder due to family
violence. Ninety percent of abused adolescents become drug involved, she said.
Over 700 social workers and other health and social service professionals attended the day-long
Institute, which featured over 30 workshops.
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