Thank you for your continued efforts in the collaborative support of private and public programs here in Montgomery County. I wish continued success to your fellowship in its endeavors to provide a program for those who seek recovery from drug and alcohol dependence. I strongly endorse your Twelve-Step method as a viable process for achieving recovery from substance abuse. That saved my life and showed me a way to personal freedom. Along with A.A.'s success has come a profound change in the public's attitude.
People now recognize alcoholism, once thought to be a moral deficiency, as a health problem.
Alcoholics can help other alcoholics because they understand each other and are unified by their common problem. This wholeness, however has suffered in recent years because of changes in society and the way drugs are used today. This inconsistency has been lessened, in our area of the country, because of the influence of Chemically Dependent Anonymous, an organization that began in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1980. C.D.A. is open to anyone who is dependent on mind-altering chemicals of any sort. Although not allied with A.A., C.D.A. closely follows the model provided by Alcoholics Anonymous.