I am Dr.
Mary Holley, founder and president of Mothers Against Meth-Amphetamine.
I was an Obstetrician/Gynecologist in Alabama for 15 years. I closed
my practice in 2005 to devote full time to Mothers Against Methamphetamine.
I lost a brother to crystal methamphetamine on the 4th of July of
2000. His story is in the booklets on this site.
After his death I started looking into this drug, as a physician,
as a scientist. What is this drug? How did it do so much damage
to his brain in such a short time? What I found out appalls me.
Science knows a lot about this drug. We know how it damages the
brain and we know how it causes addiction.
Many people think that this addiction is hopeless, that no one
ever recovers from it. It is very difficult to recover from it,
but it is not impossible. The brain damage is significant and
some of it is irreversible. But we are more than just the sum
of our brain cells.
The addict’s spirit has been wounded, but it is not dead.
The Spirit of God can and does heal the spirit of the addict.
Even those with permanent brain damage can know peace in their
heart and victory over addiction in a relationship with Jesus
Christ.
This drug also damages relationships, and families are devastated
by it. My brother keeps foster children. Nearly all of the children
he has had in his home over the past 10 years are victims of crystal
methamphetamine. This drug is destroying the very fabric of our
society, the family. It is destroying our communities.
There is a very strong tendency to blame the addict for his problem.
He made the choice to abuse drugs and we as a society have to pick
up the pieces. We demonize the addict, especially the one who commits
crimes under the influence of drugs.
These people are also victims of their drug abuse. They are
caught up in the power of a drug that is far stronger than they
are. The brain damage destroys their will and their reasoning
ability. Many of them were already mentally ill before they became
addicted. Many come from abusive and alcoholic homes, where they
received little or no nurture.
The basically healthy person who makes a bad choice and gets addicted
can often recover without too much trouble. 1 or 2 trips through
rehabilitation and a strong motivation to stay clean is enough for
them. The people who have the most trouble getting off are the weak
and the wounded, the victims of child abuse and abandonment, incest
and rape, children of alcoholic and drug abusing homes.
Recovery for these people is more than just detoxification. They
also need to heal in their hearts and spirits the wounds they carry
with them if they are to truly recover from addiction. There is
only one Person who can heal that deeply into another person, and
His name is Jesus Christ.
Many times over the past several years, people I barely recognize
have come up to me, sometimes with tears in their eyes, and thanked
me for introducing them to Jesus and thus saving their lives. My
heart aches for these people, and I want to reach as many as I can
with the good news of the power of Jesus Christ over addiction
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