YOU CAN’T RUN AWAY FROM YOURSELF –
June 5, 2024 – A turning point came after a bad episode that prompted some harsh advice from Zoratto’s therapist. “After sharing my story a bit, he told me, ‘Luc, you can’t be drinking again.’ He spoke to me in a way no one had before, and I was very thrown off by that. At first, I still resisted …However, the therapist helped Zoratto open his mind to sobriety by having him join group therapy. Zoratto says he was “shocked” by the members and their stories. “It was a bit of a culture shock, but it was the wake-up call I needed,” he says. “I realized this was the trajectory I was on if I didn’t make changes. That’s when the journey started.”
Adam Sherk, senior scientist and special policy advisor with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, explains that alcohol is the “drug of choice” for many Canadians. He points out that the normalization of alcohol is one of the most rampant issues in Canada’s social fabric.
“Alcohol is one of the few legal drugs and is far and away the drug of choice compared to other legal substances like tobacco and cannabis. It’s used as a celebratory drug and to unwind,” Sherk tells Yahoo Canada. The most recent Canadian Substance Use Costs and Harms (CSUCH) report states that in 2020, alcohol use in Canada cost nearly $20 billion—more than tobacco and opioids combined.
