Friends You Can Drop: Alcohol and Drugs

When he was president of the Rhode Island affiliate of the National Council on Alcoholism, Lawson, who presently resides in Paris, helped many addicts undergoing treatment in halfway houses, community mental-health programs and the Rhode Island Family Court Alcohol Program. In this ""basic primer on alcoholism and drugs,'' written for a series of monthly newsletters, the author dispels the notion that alcoholism and other forms of chemical abuse are the result of moral weakness or depravity. Using case studies from his own experiences, Lawson discusses alcoholism and women, the children of alcoholics, how to persuade an alcoholic to seek professional help and the treatment process. The book is aimed at laypeople who confront the illness in their day-to-day lives. ``There is still a long way to go before alcoholism will be fully accepted by the general public as a medical illness,'' concludes Lawson, who claims that psychotherapists and behaviorists have failed to recognize the physiological basis of alcoholism. In a chapter entitled ``The Other Drugs,'' he issues a warning against marijuana, LSD, PCP, Quaaludes and amphetamines. (October)