Development action with informed and engaged societies
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Addiction Is a Choice

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As the title suggests, this book addresses the theory that people can't control what they do, they shouldn't be held responsible for their actions, and they can excuse practically anything by claiming to be a victim. Though Schaler occasionally compromises his argument by overstatement and paradoxes, most of the book relies on empirical evidence and consistent logic to place responsibility for excessive drug-taking on the individual drug-user.

Schaler offers a number of findings. Among them:
  • the best way to overcome addiction is to rely on your own willpower;
  • drug addiction is often a way of life people rely on to cope with, or avoid coping with, the world;
  • people can stop depending on drugs or alcohol as they develop other ways to deal with life;
  • addiction has more to do with environments people live in than with the drugs they are addicted to;
  • people often outgrow drug and alcohol addiction;
  • alcoholics and drug addicts can learn to moderate their drinking or cut down on their drug use;
  • drug addicts and alcoholics can and often do find their own ways out of their addictions, without outside help.
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Number of Pages
146
Source

Journal of Health Communication, Volume 8, pp. 295-296, 2003.