Close Encounters with Addiction. Gabor Mate

       Opening Introductions

      Dr. Maté is introduced by the following associates of Writers in Treatment (WIT).

      Leonard Buschel (Chairman of the Board for WIT): Last month during the Second Annual Festival of Laughs here at the Skirball we honored Academy Award-winning actor Lou Gossett, Jr. with the Experience, Strength, and Hope Award. This award is given to creative individuals whose honest and frank autobiographies describe their journey from addiction to recovery. Next year the recipient of the Experience, Strength and Hope Award will be none other than Buzz Aldrin, at which time he will explain how he got that first name. Yes, he did teach Michael Jackson how to moonwalk. That was him. By the way, how many people here first became aware of Gabor Maté on Democracy Now? How many people became aware of Dr. Gabor Maté for the first time because of this event tonight? During the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, I was watching an interview with someone who looked like John Lennon but sounded like a cross between Hippocrates and Quan Yin. I thought, “Who is this guy?” and before the interview was over, I was ordering his books from Amazon. But anyway, so it’s with no small pleasure that I have the profound honor of bringing Dr. Gabor Maté to Los Angeles tonight.

      This event would not be possible without the support of Mike Bloom and the Pasadena Recovery Center, so thank you, Mike Bloom. In closing, as exciting as an event this is tonight, on a personal note, it is also a very sad day for me. It was a year ago that a good friend of mine name Jewelle Sturm died of an accidental drug overdose. A week before she died, we talked about the possibility of her going into rehab. Maybe if she had spent some time at Pasadena Recovery Center more than her spirit would be here tonight, so with that I want to introduce the Director of Pasadena Recovery Center, Michael Bloom.

      Jennifer Jimenez: Hi, I’m Jennifer Jimenez. It is an honor to be here tonight. Thank you to Mike Bloom and Pasadena Recovery Center and to Leonard Buschel of Writers in Treatment for inviting me to be part of this special evening tonight. I would like to say a little bit about our speaker. He was born in Budapest, Hungary and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1957. After graduating with a BA from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, he returned to pursue his childhood dreams of becoming a doctor. Dr. Maté has been in private family practice for over twenty years. In 1999, he became a staff physician of the Portland Hotel, a residence and clinic for the people of Vancouver’s downtown eastside. There he treated many patients suffering from extreme poverty, mental illness, addiction, and HIV infection.

      As a public speaker, he addresses professional and lay audiences all over North America. His four books are all Canadian bestsellers and have been published internationally in nearly twenty languages, including his most recent title, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Close Encounters With Addiction. One of the things that struck me about In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts is his radical belief in the humanity of people battling addiction and how they should be treated with respect and compassion, not punished by the legal system. Some of us who are lucky enough to be in recovery realize that it was only through treatment that we found a way to handle the hungry ghosts of our own addiction. Widely recognized for his firm belief in the connection between mind and body health, he is a guest on numerous radio and TV programs and makes regular appearances on Democracy Now. Those of you who listen to KPFK know that Amy Goodman calls him “the philosopher of addiction.”

      Here’s what fellow Canadian Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and No Logo says about In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. “Gabor Maté’s connections between the intensely personal and the global, the spiritual and the medical, the psychological and the political are bold, wise, and deeply moral. He is a healer to be cherished and this exciting book arrives at just the right time.” In the foreword of his most recent book Dr. Maté writes, “I dedicate this work to all my fellow hungry ghosts, be they the HIV-infected street dwellers or inner city neighborhoods, the inmates of prison or their more fortunate counterpartners with homes, families, jobs, and successful careers. May we all find peace.” Ladies and gentlemen, it’s an honor to introduce Dr. Gabor Maté.

       Close Encounters with Addiction

      Dr. Gabor Maté: Thank you kindly, one and all. And especially to Leonard for organizing this event. We can take the perspective that addiction is a terrible problem to be excised and that it’s a plague to somehow be fought and defeated, or we can take another perspective. Let me read you something that a spiritual teacher whom I cherish, who actually lives and works here in California wrote. His words go, “Your conflicts and all the difficult things, your problematic situations in your life are not chance or haphazard. They are actually yours. They are specifically designed for you by a part of you that loves you more than anything else. That part of you that loves you more than anything else has created roadblocks to lead you to yourself.”

      And I’d like you to consider, even before we speak about addictions,