The Last 50 Years
The year 2002 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the founding on October 21, 1952 of The Christopher D. Smithers Foundation by R. Brinkley Smithers, my late husband. This historic milestone is a time for reflection.
Shortly after, Brink himself marked an important date - his sobriety. It was almost fifty years ago that Yvelin Gardner, Deputy Director of the National Council on Alcoholism, met with Brink and told him, "Brink, you have a disease and there is treatment for it." These words changed the direction of Brink's life and the shape of the mission of the Foundation. It signaled Brink's recovery from alcoholism, his life's dedication to the alcoholism cause and the start of the Foundation's close working relationship with the National Council on Alcoholism. It was truly the beginning of the alcoholism movement in this country and ultimately the world.
The Foundation has made great inroads in the areas of medical and scientific research, in the reduction in stigma and, we like to think, in the reduction in sales in the license beverage industry. The highlights of the major initiatives are included in the body of this report. It is evident from reading them that the Foundation has been the motivating force for much of the progress made in the field. Treatment became available, education, prevention and training programs were implemented.
Today, I am perplexed and angry. Despite our accomplishments, we are losing a great deal of ground. Access to treatment for alcoholics is at best difficult, insurance for treatment for alcoholics is at best scarce, and in the last decade the stigma and the old myths have resurfaced. Denial once again is growing. In addition there is evidence of increased advertising by the licensed beverage industry targeted at the young. Products such as alco-pops, which are squarely aimed at the young, have been introduced and hard liquor ads are reappearing on television. Underage drinking is on the rise, binge drinking on college campuses and drinking among the elderly are at an all time high.
In these same fifty years, our society has accepted and substantially funded the treatment of other diseases including cancer, diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and HIV/AIDS. Alcoholism has not shared in our society's increasing awareness of the concept of disease. Although the entire world is affected by this disease, it is still looked upon as a moral weakness, not as a chronic medical condition.
Recently the World Health Organization declared alcohol and alcohol abuse the number one health threat to society. It is, as we know, and they confirm, a disease that touches more lives than all other diseases combined. The realization and concern of the international community of the escalating problems caused by alcoholism gives us great hope that working together we can go forward, regain lost ground and conquer this disease.
I am proud to have been a part of the accomplishments in the field of alcoholism since 1960 when I joined the National Council on Alcoholism, and I wish to pay tribute to Brink for his visionary leadership and compassionate philanthropy. He gave his all to the cause and enjoyed doing so. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all those organizations and individuals with whom we have worked and from whom I have learned so much. A special thanks to past and particularly present Board members and Consultants of the Foundation.
In retrospect, I embrace all the past relationships we have had with those dedicated individuals who have been in the pioneering forefront of this movement. Looking to the future, I dedicate myself and the Foundation to the mission set by our Founder, R. Brinkley Smithers "to create a better understanding of this baffling, complex disease and to have alcoholism recognized as a respectable, treatable disease from which people can and do recover.
Adele C. Smithers
President