- Alcohol
- Drugs
If you’re at a residential treatment center in the desert town of Palm Springs, it’s likely you might make your way to a wooden building at the edge of town called the Alano Club. In this building, a loud gregarious old-timer by the name of Ira can be found, spouting sayings, cracking jokes and giving you a hard time for believing you know what you really don’t. Abrasive, uncouth and vulgar at times, Ira has become a staple of the Alano Club and an icon amongst 12-steppers and recovering addicts/alcoholics alike.
Ira was born and raised in the Coachella Valley to a Jewish family who he almost immediately found fault with. Early on in his youth, it became instilled within him that life was not fair and that in order to make it fair he had to learn how to act as God. He began drinking and drugging at a young age. He began with “girly” drinks until his father schooled him on the hard, manly liquors of the day. He loved weed and Southern Comfort, which became his regular choices until he enlisted in the Navy and was shipped off to Vietnam a few weeks before his 18th birthday.
Arriving in a foreign land, Ira encountered his love affair with opium and set off into a lifestyle of hard drug use. “I was addicted to the lifestyle,” he said as he recapped shipping home enough opium to last him two years. Upon returning to the U.S., Ira collected unemployment from the military and worked at his father’s service station. Having enough money to do as he pleased, Ira began traveling to Vegas every weekend. Gambling, booze and an introduction to cocaine set off an explosion into the lifestyle he so loved. He convinced his father to reinforce the service station the family owned and started selling cocaine out of it. As money flowed like water, Ira’s ego grew.
During his active use, Ira got married, had children and continued to be a “functional user.” Life was good, and money was never a problem. Cocaine was a way to get anyone to do anything. Lavish parties were thrown with doctors, lawyers, police chiefs and mayors. Anything could be settled with cocaine, and Ira never saw a prison cell. His realization of a burgeoning addiction began when he woke up one morning and wasn’t able to move until he snorted two lines of cocaine. However, his addiction was far from done.
As his lifestyle peaked, Ira was introduced to meth. The cards now began to fall. His money became depleted and his family became lost, along with Ira’s drive to succeed. He could only think about the next fix. He became tired. Ira’s sister, Debbie, was also a recovering addict and had put together five years sober by this time, so he reached out to her for help. He had already attempted suicide. He had a 45 in his mouth and was ready to pull the trigger when an act of God showed him there was another way. His sister reached out to another person in the program, and Ira entered treatment. His road to recovery began reluctantly, fighting all the way. He’ll be the first to tell you he scoffed at the steps.
It wasn’t until he was approaching his third sober birthday that he actually began some of the work. Then it wasn’t until his fifth birthday that he completed his fourth step. Now celebrating 23 years, the struggle he put up to complete his steps now holds meaning for him in relating to other newcomers. He has made it his personal mission to help guide them and impart his wisdom. He can often be found dancing with groups of newcomers, recovering addicts/alcoholics and old-timers in the sober dances or night clubs of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.
This advocate has special gratitude for Ira because he helped me see that I could enjoy my passion for dance without the use of alcohol. Without his guidance back to the dance floor, I would never have experienced what it feels like to be happy, joyous and free with my life’s passion. You might call him the “knight in shining armor of the groove thang!” Today, Ira sponsors many others and owns and operates a successful auto shop. He would ask you to never leave five minutes before the miracle.