Spreading the word

A bookshop that opened yesterday will provide support for alcoholics, addicts and their families.

The bookshop in St Martins, Christchurch, is run by the Familial Trust, and specialises in books dedicated to helping those with addictions and their co-dependents to find out more about treatment and recovery.

Trust assistant manager Graham Watson said the original Source bookshop had been set up at Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs. It was the only shop in New Zealand dedicated to selling books and providing information for families of drug addicts and alcoholics struggling to understand what their loved ones were going through. When the hospital closed the bookshop languished.

The St Martins bookshop was opened by Associate Minister Jim Anderton.

"We know the staggering cost of addiction," Anderton said. "There are the financial costs of billions of dollars a year in treatment, lost production, damage and other losses. There are social and human costs which matter even more. No-one who deals with addiction issues professionally can be complacent."

The bookshop could help those desperate to know what was happening to them, as well as helping treatment providers and families.

Kristi Gray Christchurch Press Friday March 17th 2006