 |
|
|
|
 Marion Hagerman, 54, is a chronic alcoholic who lives at a "wet house," a state-funded residence where he's allowed to drink.
May 6th, 2011
07:38 AM ET
Where alcoholics can drink themselves to deathLearn more about the controversial "wet house" concept for dealing with chronic alcoholics this Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET on "Sanjay Gupta, MD." St. Paul, Minnesota (CNN) - It's been over seven years since Marion Hagerman has spoken to anyone in his family. As he huddles behind a parked trailer on a cold early spring day, Hagerman reflects on his life, and recalls what led him to this moment. "This is my lifestyle," says Hagerman, 54, while sneaking a swig of what he calls "wash," or mouthwash - a cheap way of getting intoxicated. "It ain't much, but this is what I have. It sucks. " He says he held a steady job for 20 years, before his addiction to alcohol took over his life. Today, Hagerman lives at St. Anthony Residence in St. Paul, Minnesota, along with about 60 other late-stage alcoholics. St. Anthony, which receives funds from the state and is operated by Catholic Charities, is known as a "wet house" because Hagerman and the others are allowed to drink on site, with some caveats - including no mouthwash. The theory is that it's better to allow these guys to drink in a safe place than to end up on the streets and in the city's emergency rooms, jails, and detox centers. At St. Anthony, they have access to nurses - and doctors if the situation warrants - plus on-site case managers to aid in their addiction. Ideally, St. Anthony's counselors want the residents to sober up - but they realize that there isn't a strong chance of that happening. St. Paul isn't the only city that has a "wet house"-style residence - Seattle was one of the first cities to put this concept into practice in 2005, and Memphis is considering building one, too. Another argument in favor of the concept is that it saves money. Each St. Anthony's resident costs about $18,000 a year to house and feed, about $1,500 a month. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that if these men were out on the street, it could cost over $4,000 a month in incarceration, shelter and sobering center use, hospital-based medical services, publicly funded alcohol and drug detoxification and treatment, and emergency medical services. But the idea of allowing alcoholics to drink is antithetic to the basic tenets of addiction counseling. "We feel that that it's never too late, and that even if the alcoholic doesn't want help, doesn't mean that their drinking should be condoned or in any other way enabled or facilitated," says William Cope Moyers, public advocacy executive director for Hazelden addiction treatment centers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. "I see the wet house model as a model that enables the addict in the alcoholic to continue those destructive patterns." Moyers, who is the son of well-known journalist Bill Moyers, has chronicled his own struggle in his book, "Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption." His opposition to the wet house concept is commonplace among addiction counselors. St. Anthony Residence program manager Bill Hockenberger calls the wet house a "harm reduction model," instead of a treatment center. He says by giving these men a home - men who have all gone through nearly every treatment numerous times - it gets them off the streets. The added comfort of having a place to call home at night and the dignity that restores in the men in return, he says, leads men to drink less. "They didn't want to be an alcoholic," he said. "A lot of them just didn't have a choice in the matter ... this provides safe secure housing for those most in need. We are in business to do the humane thing." Hagerman, like a lot of the other St. Anthony residents, says he'd like to eventually leave and find a job. But he feels like he's stuck. "No I don’t want to stay there, I'd like to get a goddamn job and get the hell outta there," he says. "Jesus Christ, I turn 55 in September, I'm getting old. Who wants to hire a 55-year-old man?" Like a lot of the residents, Hagerman's addiction to alcohol not only keeps him out of a job - it keeps him away from his family, too. Just weeks after he learned his brother Jerry died from a heart attack, he learned that another brother, Mike, is in the hospital, dying from colon cancer. I give him a ride to the hospital, where he visits Mike and sits down with his other brother, Ray, for the first time in seven years. It's an awkward conversation, as Ray talks about Marion, seated next to him, as if he's not even there. "It's like we did kind of wash our hands [of] him when our parents died," Ray says. "We weren't going to take care of him. I'm glad to see that he's still alive because none of us were sure if he was. Always looked on the streets to see if I would see him somewhere." Ray says isn't sure what a "wet house" is, but seems to be OK with the idea. "I don’t think he's ever gonna stop drinking," Ray says. "No, no, I'm not going to," Marion responds, as if to remind Ray he's sitting right there. "My lifestyle keeps me alive." "Yeah it also keeps you separated from everybody in the last years of their lives," his brother says. The day after the visit, Mike succumbs to colon cancer. "It's my life. That's as far as it goes," Marion says a few days later, as he seeks to numb himself from the pain of his loss. "I live here. Look at this? Do you think I’m happy with this situation? No, I can't stand it. But I have nothing else to do." Watch Sanjay Gupta MD Saturday at 4:30pm and Sunday at 7:30am ET. For the latest from Sanjay Gupta MD click here. soundoff (2,435 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Next »Leave a Reply to realtor coeur d alene idaho
Next entry »FDA sets kids' dosing for liquid meds
« Previous entryIs carbonated water safe to drink?
|
  About this blog
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.
 |
|
|
|
luxury rehab retreat center,luxury rehab retreat center alcohol drug addiction detox weight loss
https://www.mercuiluxuryrehab.com/
I have read some good stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how so much effort you set to make this type of magnificent informative web site.
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
As a Newbie, I am always exploring online for articles that can benefit me. Thank you
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
My wife and i felt absolutely relieved when Michael managed to carry out his analysis through the precious recommendations he was given from your very own blog. It's not at all simplistic to just always be giving away techniques which some other people may have been selling. And now we do understand we've got the website owner to give thanks to for this. The main illustrations you made, the simple blog navigation, the relationships you will help to foster – it is mostly terrific, and it is letting our son in addition to the family do think the matter is brilliant, and that's particularly serious. Thanks for everything!
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
เว็บพนันออนไลน์
http://totalbusinessgroup.com/__media__/js/netsoltrademark.php?d=https://kspeach.com/
Altus Pet Altus Pet Store Pet Products,PET NAIL CLIPPERS DFOR DOG
https://altuspet.com/
Altus Pet Altus Pet Store Pet Products,PET NAIL CLIPPERS DFOR DOG
https://altuspet.com/
https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/
dog grooming Brooklyn
<a
mobile grooming nyc
<a
mobile grooming jersey city
<a
kucasino
<a
ku bet
<a
เว็บพนัน
<a
คาสิโน
<a
คาสิโนสด
<a
คาสิโนสด
คาสิโนออนไลน์
คาสิโนออนไลน์
คาสิโน
คาสิโนสด
คาสิโน
Best view i have ever seen !
https://maps.google.se/url?q=https://www.songmanhits.com
Best view i have ever seen !
https://images.google.com.ng/url?q=https://www.songmanhits.com
Please let me know if you're looking for a article writer for your weblog.
You have some really good articles and I believe I would
be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I'd absolutely love to write some material
for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please shoot me an email if interested.
Thank you! https://aimslot.com
I have never seen this view !
https://images.google.hn/url?q=https://www.songmanhits.com
I have never seen this view !
https://maps.google.com.py/url?q=https://www.songmanhits.com
luxury alcohol rehabluxury rehab centre drug & addiction treatment
https://www.mercuiluxuryrehab.com/rejuvenating-retreat
luxury alcohol rehabluxury rehab centre drug & addiction treatment
https://www.mercuiluxuryrehab.com/rejuvenating-retreat
Wow, marvelous blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your website is fantastic,
let alone the content!
Also visit my web page: LeighFBrofft
undefined
https://www.mercuiluxuryrehab.com/
undefinedluxury rehab retreat center alcohol drug addiction detox weight loss
https://www.mercuiluxuryrehab.com/
luxury alcohol rehab sf bay area
https://www.mercuiluxuryrehab.com/
As the admin of this web page is working, no uncertainty very quickly it will be famous, due
to its feature contents.
Feel free to visit my homepage – WyattFGrassl
dofollow backlinks
https://www.backlinkbazar.tk/
https://www.backlinkbazar.tk/
Sassy Chick Yoni Oil
https://shopsassychick.com/
soi cầu kubet
<a
soi cau mn
https://evacerna.blog.idnes.cz/redir.aspx?url=https://kubet365.net/casino-online/
dự đoán xổ số miền nam
https://blanarova.blog.idnes.cz/redir.aspx?url=https://kubet365.net/casino-online/
UCANBE Spotlight 40 Color Eye Shadow Palette
https://beautyforten.com/collections/eye-shadow-liner
Beautyforten‘s mission is to elevate, enable, approve, and eventually assemble confidence in ladies around the globe through astounding items that empower both inward and external beauty and otherworldly edification while additionally giving chances to self-improvement and budgetary reward. We let you feel beautiful.Changeable Pink Violet Nude Eye Shadow Palette
https://beautyforten.com/collections/eye-shadow-liner
UCANBE Spotlight 40 Color Eye Shadow Palette
https://beautyforten.com/collections/nail-gel
nail dryers
https://beautyforten.com/
Photo studio hire
https://www.daylightstudiohire.co.uk/
We are Daylight Studio, a boutique photography studio and photo shoot location in East London available for hire. We are a creative natural light studio space with decorated French walls, lots of props and furniture and massive windows for great natural light. He have a unique selection of chairs, fabric backgrounds and a sofa for your next natural light photography project. The studio is great for fashion, portrait and commercial photography and if natural light photography studio is not your thing we have a lot of lighting equipment available for you as well and that includes studio strobe lights with various modifiers and LED constant lights for video production. We also have facilities for e-commerce photography. Please see the studio’s gallery here. Please consider Daylight Studio as your shoot location or film location for your next creative project.
https://www.daylightstudiohire.co.uk/
We are Daylight Studio, a boutique photography studio and photo shoot location in East London available for hire. We are a creative natural light studio space with decorated French walls, lots of props and furniture and massive windows for great natural light. He have a unique selection of chairs, fabric backgrounds and a sofa for your next natural light photography project. The studio is great for fashion, portrait and commercial photography and if natural light photography studio is not your thing we have a lot of lighting equipment available for you as well and that includes studio strobe lights with various modifiers and LED constant lights for video production. We also have facilities for e-commerce photography. Please see the studio’s gallery here. Please consider Daylight Studio as your shoot location or film location for your next creative project.
https://www.daylightstudiohire.co.uk/
Looking forward to reading more. Great blog post.Really thank you! Really Great.
https://www.secrettantric.com/
Nice comprehensive blog, thank you
bit.ly/3vN9Qtd
Wonderful article! We are linking to this particularly great content on our website. Keep up the good writing.
https://extraproxies.com/tag/textbased/
buy tadalafil us https://elitadalafill.com/ tadalafil 40 mg daily
tadalafil 30 mg https://elitadalafill.com/ what is tadalafil