Kevin Lewis looks at addiction as a treatable disease
BY EVAN WILLIAMS ewilliams@floridaweekly.com
Southwest Florida Addiction Services CEO Kevin Lewis, 53, didn't know much about addiction when he was young. He didn't take drugs; his parents drank, but not copiously. He may have had an uncle who drank one too many now and then, but real addicts were still "those people:" a group of unfortunates that lived in another world.

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO / EVAN WILLIAMS Southwest Florida Addiction Services CEO, Kevin Lewis

"I didn't have a lot of understanding of the disease," Lewis said.

He graduated from college at Grand Valley State University in Michigan with a degree in criminal justice and moved to Florida in 1977. One of his first jobs was being a prison guard. But during an internship at the Alcohol Treatment Center in Avon Park, a state hospital, he enjoyed working with the patients so much it changed his career path.

"They were really bright, creative people," he said. "Fun to work with…It was like an ah-ha thing for me."

Lewis went back to school in Orlando for a Masters in social work so he could continue in the field of helping addicts; he started as Assistant Director of the six-yearold SWFAS in 1986 and became CEO soon after. Then, he said the most common drug of choice was alcohol. Now, it's opiate based prescription medication like OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet.

One thing Lewis said hasn't changed is the obvious correlation between Lee County's growing population and a higher number of people in the area with addiction problems. "It's a recurring theme. It's anybody. It's anyone. There's no group, no family, no neighbors, not any amount of money, not a gated community that can be immune from these disorders. It's the 'anyone' of it that is my kind of wake up call. It's such an equal opportunity disorder."

Lewis said addiction should be seen as a treatable mental illness, and should be responded to in the same fashion as any other illness, like bronchitis or a broken leg: by seeking treatment. Sounds easy enough, but seeking treatment is sometimes delayed to disastrous results, he said, because of lack of mental health care funding in the area.

"It's heartbreaking because you have real people with real needs who really die," he said.

Many with an addiction disorder end up making expensive emergency room visits, or being sent to jail, which costs taxpayers millions.

Lewis noted the only high rise in town that will be fully occupied upon completion is the new $60 million Lee County Correctional Facility on Ortiz Avenue.

Cultural and societal stigmatisms in which people look down upon or scorn addicts also aggravate the disorder, he said. Comparing an addict to a diabetic is more apt, because a diabetic depends on insulin in the same manner an addict depends on his or her drug of choice.

"Most people's understanding of addictions is pretty superficial," Lewis said. "We tend to be pretty judgmental. I'm still waiting to meet the person who gets out of bed in the morning and says 'I want to be an addict.'"

Pain pills are also a hot commodity, Lewis said, and some doctors write unnecessary prescriptions to make extra money. "We live in a culture where we're pretty sure we don't have to put up with pain and suffering. In real life, occasionally there's some pain and suffering… At the other end of the pill, I still have to deal with the relationship issues. My wife's still mad, my bills still aren't paid and my boss still might fire me."

To improve psychological well being simply without pills, Lewis recommends light exercise and a healthy diet. But for some, medication is necessary. To decide where you stand, he said to take a balanced approach, and get help sooner rather than later.

"I'd go to the doctor if I hurt my knee," he said. "Why not go to the doctor if I have a problem with alcohol or drug usage?"

If you like drugs so much you do them compulsively, to the point where you lose control, and then keep using them in spite of adverse consequences, Lewis said it's time to go to the doctor or actively get help. Another indicator is family members who have had addiction problems - it can be passed on just like heart disease.

Lewis has two grown children, has been married 30 years and likes to play racquetball and golf. He was the youngest of four children, and his mother still lives in Detroit.

He says his life is boring to talk about, which is okay with him. His eyes are liquid calm, some people might even say laconic, with a low voice that can disappear at the end of a sentence, as if someone suddenly turned the volume down. But these features add pleasant balance to his quick, widespread curiosity which takes in everything from historical epic novels on the Civil War to the back of cereal boxes.

"I read everything," he said. "My wife makes fun of me because I stop to read the historical markers."

And he takes close, careful looks at people too, especially the patients who have captured his attention for so long.

"What I've learned probably from my patients is, addiction is really not a choice and recovery is possible," he said. "It's certainly not easy."