Columnist Susan Snyder: Addicts take on Las Vegas

Friday, Jan. 18, 2002 | 9:43 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at 259-4082 or snyder@lasvegassun.com.

The American College of Addictionology and Compulsive Disorders conducted its annual convention in Las Vegas this week.

Thankfully, attendees were here to learn how to treat addictions rather than indulge them.

For three years running, the Miami-based training program has conducted its 10-month national training sessions here, said Jay Holder, its founder.

"The very first time we came here, we were right next to a Harley-Davidson or Hell's Angels convention or something," Rita Holder, his wife, recalled. "All these women were standing around in black leather jackets with no sleeves and smoking cigarettes. We got in the elevator with them. They saw our sign and said, 'You sure you're in the right place?' "

With slot machines ringing and clanging in the background, Holder sipped a double-shot latte and grinned at the irony. Even he is amused that he's training people to treat addictions in what probably is the most addict-driven city in the world.

Face it, without uncontrolled gambling, drinking, sex and eating, Las Vegas would be just another water-sucking wound in the desert.

How awful.

"Here we are, and the hedonism capital of the world is the most visited," Holder said. "Whatever the reason is, these are highly professional, highly motivated people."

That, or they want to play gobs of blackjack between sessions. (OK, OK. Ignore the snotty columnist like you always do.)

The sad fact is, addiction is a driving force behind more than our valley's Epicurean economy. It's a huge burden on society, Holder said. He suspects about 15 percent of the population suffers from some kind of addiction.

Actually, he says, an addict typically is dependent on more than one of what he calls "the big five": chemicals, food, work, sex and gambling.

"It is a serious national epidemic," Holder said. "We spend $280 billion in treatment annually, and that is not in the criminal justice system."

He would know. Holder used to be a Florida cop specializing in undercover drug investigations. He left police work after going to college to become a chiropractor.

"I got interested (in addictions) by seeing the criminal justice end," he said. "You can't punish a disease. You can only treat it."

Holder, who also runs a residential addiction program in Miami, led a study last year that showed addicts whose spines were realigned with a tool he invented suffered less anxiety and were more likely to successfully complete treatment.

That method is among the alternative, non-drug treatments taught in Holder's 10-month program. In the program's 13 years, he has certified more than 5,000 people to treat addicts, many of whom are teachers, those already involved in drug counseling, accupuncturists and other chiropractors.

"We're making a dent," he said.

But as long as society's value system is based on the quick-fix and instant gratification, we will continue to foster addiction.

"It's an equal-opportunity disease," Holder said. "It's not the bum on the street. Anybody could wake up with this disease. It could be the pilot of your next airline flight."