QUINCY — The National Library of Addictions has named Paul Bowman, a Quincy advocate for recovering drug addicts, ambassador of the year.
“What stands out about Paul is the purity of his heart,” said National Library of Addictions founder and addiction specialist Dr. P. S. Kishore. “He is trying to help a community of people that is disenfranchised.”
Bowman, a recovering addict of 15 years, founded the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates in 2000 to support recovering addicts who were not receiving adequate care.
“Most of the philosophy in addiction treatment is (to keep patients) anonymous,” Kishore said. “How do you get an advocate for people with no names?”
Bowman serves in Boston on the consumer advisory board of the Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Substance Abuse.
He also received the Jones Family Award, founded by Jan Jones, whose son Jesse died from a drug overdose in 2005.
The National Library of Addictions is a Brookline-based organization that treats recovering addicts. It focuses on primary care and long-term recovery.