Addiction or Freedom
Russell M. Nelson
New Era,
Sept. 1989
© by Intellectual
Reserve Inc. Used by permission
I am impressed to speak out
on a problem of deep concern—the worldwide epidemic of drug addiction. My
study of drugs began early in medical school. Each doctor spends months in
specialized courses learning potential benefits and risks of medicinal
agents. Proper prescription of drugs is the forte of skilled physicians.
Generally, when their advice is carefully followed, results are remarkably
successful. In addressing this topic, I specifically exclude such
application of modern knowledge by educated professionals.
But I raise my voice with
others throughout the world who warn against abuse of drugs beyond
prescribed limits, and the recreational or social use of chemical
substances so often begun naively by the ill-informed.
From an initial experiment
thought to be trivial, a vicious cycle may follow. From trial comes habit.
From habit comes dependence. From dependence comes addiction. Its grasp is
so gradual. Enslaving shackles of habit are too small to be sensed until
they are too strong to be broken. Indeed, drugs are the modern "mess of
pottage" for which souls are sold. No families are free from risk.
But this problem is broader
than hard drugs. Their use most often begins with cigarette smoking. (1)
Tobacco and alcoholic beverages contain addicting drugs. They lead the
list in incidence and cost to society.
As I speak with
governmental and medical leaders of many nations, they voice grave concern
over the consumption of alcohol and other harmful substances by their
citizens. Though the extent of the challenge is international, data from
the United States of America will be cited solely to indicate the
monstrous scope of this worldwide problem.
Tobacco
Cigarette smoking is the
most frequent preventable cause of heart disease, artery disease, lung
disease, and cancer. (2) In the U.S.A. in 1982, 16 percent of all deaths
(314,000) were attributed to the smoking of tobacco. (3)
For the year 1985, the
estimated cost of both smoking-related health care and lost productivity
amounted to $65 billion. That calculates to an average of $2.17 per pack
of cigarettes sold. (4) Social consequences of smoking far exceed the
price paid to purchase cigarettes.
Alcohol
There is mounting concern
worldwide over the consumption of alcohol. The U.S. government estimates
that 10.6 million adults are alcoholics and that one family in four is
troubled by alcohol. (5) It is a factor in half of all the nation’s
traffic deaths. (6)
Recently, a tragic
milestone was reached. More Americans had been killed from alcohol-related
motor vehicle accidents (1,350,000) than had been killed in all the wars
America has ever fought (1,156,000). (7)
Other Drugs
Drugs such as LSD,
marijuana, heroin, and cocaine are also endangering people throughout the
earth. The noble attributes of reason, integrity, and dignity, which
distinguish men and women from all other forms of life, are often the
first to be attacked by these drugs and alcohol.
Agency
The solution to the drug
problem ultimately is neither governmental nor institutional. Nor is it a
question of legality. It is a matter of individual choice and commitment.
Agency must be understood. The importance of the will in making crucial
choices must be known. Then steps toward relief can follow.
Agency, or the power to
choose, was ours as spirit children of our Creator before the world was
(see Alma 13:3; Moses 4:4). It is a gift from God, nearly as precious as
life itself.
Often, however, agency is
misunderstood. While we are free to choose, once we have made those
choices, we are tied to the consequences of those choices.
We are free to take drugs
or not. But once we choose to use a habit-forming drug, we are bound to
the consequences of that choice. Addiction surrenders later freedom to
choose. Through chemical means, one can literally become disconnected from
his or her own will!
Road to Recovery
For relief of an ailment,
as a doctor of medicine I might write a prescription. As an ordained
Apostle I would invoke the spiritual blessing of eternal perspective.
Combined, my spiritual prescription would return the gift of agency to its
rightful owner.
This challenge uniquely
involves the will, and the will can prevail. Healing doesn’t come after
the first dose of any medicine. So the prescription must be followed
firmly, bearing in mind that it often takes as long to recover as it did
to become ill. But if made consistently and persistently, correct choices
can cure.
Spiritual Prescription
My spiritual prescription
includes six choices:
A. Choose to be Alive.
Seek beloved family, friends, and physicians. Plead for their help. Your
precious life is at stake. Cheer up your hearts, and remember that you are
free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the
way of eternal life (see 2 Ne. 10:23).
The choice for life brings
an outlook of optimism. It breathes hope. It rekindles
self-esteem—regarding one’s body as a timeless trust. And it awakens a
personal commitment to "see that ye take care of these sacred things, …
that ye look to God and live" (Alma 37:47).
B. Choose to Believe.
Believe in God. Accept yourself as His child, created in His image. He
loves you and wants you to be happy. He wants you to grow through life’s
choices and become more like Him. He pleads that you will "reconcile
[yourself] to the will of God, and not to the will of the … flesh" (2
Ne. 10:24).
Reconciliation requires
faith, repentance, and baptism. Be "born of God, changed from [your]
carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness" (Mosiah 27:25).
Renew covenants made at baptism by worthily partaking of the sacrament
regularly, "that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the
world" (D&C 59:9).
Then "be meek and lowly
in heart; … withstand every temptation of the devil, with … faith on the
Lord Jesus Christ" (Alma 37:33).
Choose to believe in and be
blessed by your Creator.
C. Choose to Change.
"How long will ye suffer [yourself] to be led by foolish and blind
guides? Yea, how long will ye choose darkness rather than light?" (Hel.
13:29). Choose to change—today!
"The spirit and the body are the soul of
man"
(D&C 88:15). Both
spirit and body have appetites. One of life’s great challenges is to
develop dominance of spiritual appetites over those that are physical.
Your willpower becomes strong when joined with the will of the Lord.
Addiction to any substance enslaves not
only the physical body but the spirit as well. Therefore, repentance is
best achieved while one still has a body to help attain spiritual
supremacy: "This life is the
time for men to prepare to meet God; … this life is the day for men to
perform their labors" (Alma 34:32).
D. Choose to be Different. Distinguish
yourself from worldly crowds. Defenders do not resemble offenders. Among
them are clever merchandisers who plot to link beer with sports, tobacco
with charm, and drugs with fun. Scripture warns of those who so deceive:
"Thus saith the Lord unto you: In
consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts
of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you,
by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation" (D&C 89:4).
Choose to be different; you will be
blessed both physically and spiritually.
E. Choose to Exercise. Exercising the
body and the spirit will aid in the climb toward recovery. Appropriate
physical activity helps to combat depression, which so often accompanies
addiction.
But spiritual exercise is even more
crucial. This battle will be more easily won with fervent prayer. If we
truly "counsel with the Lord in all [our] doings, … he will direct [us]
for good" (Alma 37:37).
Strength comes from uplifting music,
good books, and feasting from the scriptures. Since the Book of Mormon was
to come forth "when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of
the earth" (Morm. 8:31), study of that book in
particular will fortify us. President Benson has issued that challenge.
