Idaho politician recounts loss of son to addiction - SFGate

Please read this story of Dennis Mansfield and how he lost his son to addiction. It's important for a variety of reasons, mainly because "good parenting" is not the solution to addiction. Good parenting is the solution to a lot of things, but not addiction  Saying "good parenting" will cure or prevent addiction is like saying good parenting will prevent an allergy--you can keep them away from the substance for as long as you can lock them up--in the real world, you can not prevent allergies... you can teach and train and hope they hear you...Anyway, worth reading this man's story:

Idaho politician recounts loss of son to addiction - SFGate: "NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — Dennis Mansfield had all answers. The God-fearing man knew how to parent. He was in control of everything. He was the voice of Idaho's religious right. He was arrogant. He was selective in choosing his friends . he was political.

Today, Dennis Mansfield is a broken man, "loved by unloved people," and he's poured out his heart in a very personal book entitled "Beautiful Nate."

"I've learned I don't have all the answers. . My past bravado in posing and pretending may have looked good, but it was not good."

The Dennis Mansfield known as a lobbyist and a politician is a different man today.

He met the Idaho Press-Tribune for hot chocolate at the Flying M in Nampa recently to talk about his book.

Mansfield has relived his son's March 11, 2009, death again and again . as he wrote it, as he read it in a recording studio for the audio version and yet again as he talks about the book that was released March 4.

But it's not just a story about his 27-year-old son, Nathan Dennis Mansfield. It's about someone who is reading it and his or her own vulnerabilities."

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