I remember from the mid-90s an old tabloid story of an actress who used the drug Revia for her alcoholism. This is probably not what people involved with the group support of AA want to hear much about, but some people are just not interested in these support groups for addictions. I somehow remembered the name of this drug, and in 2003 I was again in touch with a very old friend who had had what he considered a dangerous drinking problem. While he had told me he stopped drinking on his own, it may be possible that he relapsed because by that time he was very active in AA in a midwestern state (when he first 'stopped by himself'), he'd been living near me, although I wasn't seeing him at the time.

Anyway, I mentioned this drug regarding his boyfriend, who'd followed him to the Midwest and was apparently also an alcoholic but falling off the wagon. He said that Revia was indeed a drug used in alcoholism, but that 'it was very expensive'. But I can't get the story straight, because the 'expensive' began to seem like the Hope Diamond--given that the guy, without medical insurance, got a face-lift, tit implants, and went to Hawaii two years in a row after they pronounced the Revia 'too expensive.' I somehow doubt it was really all that expensive, though. I imagine my friend wanted his boyfriend to be a part of the community of AA, and didn't believe in using the drug for alcoholism. I fail to understand this reasoning from him, though, given that he was on anti-depressants, HIV cocktail, and even an diazepam, although I recall that his psychiatrist took him off the latter.

Drugs that block the alcohol craving would seem ideal for some people and I'm sure that even those opposing such things will not stop the further development of these drugs. I guess this must be like methadone with heroin. But there's a fairly clear parallel between those people who demand only psychiatry without anti-depressants, etc. and the much greater use these have come into in the last 25 years (especially.) And I know several people who are in heavy therapy while taking the ADPs (including this friend, whom I haven't seen since 1985, I believe.

I imagine people who have strong belief in AA won't like this, but there are so many different kinds of people that many different kinds of treatment are necessary. I'm going to see if wiki has something on Revia right now...