John C. Fleming, MD

ISBN: 0-929292-45-6

Dr. Fleming has been a physician for over 30 years and “combines his own knowledge and the latest scientific research” to bring us important answers about drug and alcohol addiction. Fleming says, “It is imperative to know that addiction almost always begins during childhood and adolescence.”

Dr. Fleming stresses how complex the brain is and how important it is “for everyone, but especially parents, to understand how addicting substances affect the pleasure center of the brain.” And, substances are everywhere – small rural towns are no exception. No one is immune, but we can be armed with the facts as they are presented in “Preventing Addiction.”

Drugs and alcohol addictions affects everyone – even if you don’t personally know anyone with an addiction problem. We live in a society that has us avoiding strangers, arming our homes and vehicles with security systems, and “steering away from certain neighborhoods, especially at night.” We build prisons as quickly as possible and fill them even faster. Dr. Fleming writes, “But did you know that virtually every inmate is a product of a drug addiction, directly or indirectly? Murder, burglary, theft, child and spousal abuse, sex crimes, and other criminal offenses are often related to drug addiction, either because the offender is an addict or was parented by addicts, who themselves may have been imprisoned, too.” If you are skeptical, Fleming suggests you only need to speak with “the social workers who daily work with the families of convicted felons, or those whose lives have been devastated by abuse at the hands of drug addicts, some of whom go on to continue the cycle and become addicts themselves.”

Dr. Fleming has provided the world with a “step-by-step blueprint arranged by age for raising a non-addicted child and gives answers to” questions that most of us ponder on a routine basis – “Why can’t our kids ‘just say no’ to alcohol and drugs?”

At the end of each chapter there are points to remember and “tools and techniques to help parents prevent early first use” – “by detection, deterrence and monitoring.”

Fleming uses real stories about real children and families “who have successfully prevented addiction.” This is a no-nonsense book with facts and tools, is easily read and understood, and since drugs and alcohol seem to be everywhere – Dr. Fleming’s “Drug Prevention” should be, too. 

This is a must read if you know a child.

The above review was contributed by: Sue Vogan, Writer & Author of NCO-No Compassion Observed: To read more of Sue's reviews Click Here