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Just For Today

Up Or Down

'This is our road to spiritual growth. We change every day.... This growth is not the result of wishing but of action and prayer.'

Basic Text, p. 35-36

Our spiritual condition is never static; if it's not growing, it's decaying. If we stand still, our spiritual progress will lose its upward momentum. Gradually, our growth will slow, then halt, then reverse itself. Our tolerance will wear thin; our willingness to serve others will wane; our minds will narrow and close. Before long, we'll be right back where we started: in conflict with everyone and everything around us, unable to bear even ourselves.

Our only option is to actively participate in our program of spiritual growth. We pray, seeking knowledge greater than our own from a Power greater than ourselves. We open our minds and keep them open, becoming teachable and taking advantage of what others have to share with us. We demonstrate our willingness to try new ideas and new ways of doing things, experiencing life in a whole new way. Our spiritual progress picks up speed and momentum, driven by the Higher Power we are coming to understand better each day.

Up or down - it's one or the other, with very little in between, where spiritual growth is concerned. Recovery is not fueled by wishing and dreaming, we've discovered, but by prayer and action.

Just for today: The only constant in my spiritual condition is change. I cannot rely on yesterday's program. Today, I seek new spiritual growth through prayer and action.

pg. 238

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Ecstacy and Club Drugs

Ecstacy HISTORY

Ecstasy is a derivative of amphetamine. Its chemical name is 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) and it has a similar structure to methamphetamine. Ecstasy is commonly referred to as "E". Like methamphetamine, Ecstasy is unlike other drugs which are often derived from plants (e.g., cocaine, morphine, nicotine). Ecstasy is synthesized in laboratories as well a number of "new" designer drugs. These drugs are by altering the structure of the amphetamine molecule. Since Ecstasy is synthesized in laboratories, its purity can vary substantially from lab to lab, and other compounds are easily combined into the same tablet (contaminants often include caffeine, ephedrine, ketamine—a mild hallucinogen and methamphetamine). It should be noted that increased amounts of Ecstacy is being made by teens or money seeking adults in garages and bathrooms. This adds to the dangers of major side effects and deaths.

The nerve pathway that is affected by Ecstasy is called the serotonin pathway. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that is synthesized, stored, and released by specific neurons in this pathway. It is involved in the regulation of several processes within the brain, including, mood, emotions, aggression, sleep, appetite, anxiety, memory and perceptions. When a person uses Ecstasy, the increase in serotonin in different brain regions causes psychological effects. Ecstasy is also reinforcing; this means that its pleasurable properties increase the likelihood that the person will take it again. This means that this drugs and any other drug that are reinforcing are usually addictive.

People who take Ecstasy desire its pleasurable or reinforcing effects. There are several side effects or adverse effects that can occur, especially if the dose increases. Some people who take only one Ecstasy pill may have negative psychological effects such as clouded thinking, agitation and disturbed behavior, sweating, dry mouth (thirsty), increased heart rate, fatigue, muscle spasms (especially jaw-clenching) and hyperthermia. In the latter case, Ecstasy can disrupt the ability of the brain to regulate body temperature. This usually results in hyperthermia, especially when the user is in a hot environment and/or engaging in intense physical activity such as fast dancing at rave parties. Some people take multiple doses of Ecstasy in one night ("stacking"). This might be due to the reinforcing effect of the drug. Often, if something feels good, one wants to do it again! Unfortunately, the increased dose also increases the adverse effects, and some of these can become life-threatening. For example, repeated doses or a high dose of Ecstasy can cause heat injury due to hyperthermia, hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heart beat), muscle breakdown and renal failure due to salt and fluid depletion. Indicate that these dangerous effects can be produced by Ecstasy acting in the brain. Again, the hypothalamus is very important, because it regulates heart rate and blood pressure, fluid retention and kidney function and, of course, body temperature. If the body temperature gets too high, it can cause brain damage or even kill a person.

OTHER "CLUB DRUGS"

"G," "Liquid Ecstasy," "Georgia Home Boy" or Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) may be made in homes by using recipes with common ingredients. At lower doses, GHB can relax the user, but, as the dose increases, the sedative effects may result in sleep and eventual coma or death.

"Roofie" or "Roche" (Rohypnol) is tasteless and odorless. It mixes easily in carbonated beverages. Rohypnol may cause individuals under the influence of the drug to forget what happened. Other effects include low blood pressure, drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, and stomach upset.

"Special K" or "K" (Ketamine) is an anesthetic. Use of a small amount of ketamine results in loss of attention span, learning ability, and memory. At higher doses, ketamine can cause delirium, amnesia, high blood pressure, depression, and severe breathing problems.

"Speed," "Ice," "Chalk," "Meth" (Methamphetamine) is often made in home laboratories. Methamphetamine use can cause serious health concerns, including memory loss, aggression, violence, psychotic behavior, and heart problems.

"Acid" or Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) may cause unpredictable behavior depending on the amount taken, where the drug is used, and on the user's personality. A user might feel the following effects: numbness, weakness, nausea, increased heart rate, sweating, lack of appetite, "flashbacks," and sleeplessness.

The Twelve Steps		The Twelve Traditions
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptlym admitted it. 11. Sought though prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.		1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity. 2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern. 3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking. 4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole. 5. Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. 6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose. 7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. 8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers. 9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve. 10. Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy. 11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films. 12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.