Our friends at Recovered, a recovery podcast, are doing a 12 hour podcast in support of Dawn Farm. They are doing this fundraising event in honor of their late son Andrew on this weekend which would have been his 27th birthday. You can listen to it live at 8:00 am EDT or GMT -4 here.
Author: Jason Schwartz
I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I currently serve as the Director of Social Work and Spiritual Care for a healthcare system. I've also served as the Director of Behavioral Health at another hospital. I'm also a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work.
Views expressed here are my own.
Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.
Vintage drug ads
io9 has a great collection of vintage drug ads. Check it out here. Here are a few
Dr. Bob’s home
Dr. Bob's house is now a National Historic Landmark.
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Another study finds no benefit from cognitive behavioral therapy and contingency management with opiate replacement treatment. [CORRECTED: See below] Background and aims The Controlled Substances Act requires physicians in the United States to provide or refer to behavioral treatment when treating opioid-dependent individuals with buprenorphine; however no research has examined the combination of buprenorphine with … Continue reading Not available?
Black-lash
Points has a post on the history of black support for the war on drugs. When I began researching grassroots responses to crack-cocaine I found myself—albeit naively—both surprised and confused by heavy-handed, aggressive calls for more policing and harsher sentencing from working and middle class black urbanites. Was this unique to the period? Did this … Continue reading Black-lash
“Yes, we are Big Marijuana”
The Stranger covers the launch of the first national marijuana brand and stock promotion. It even included a former Mexican President! Flanked by lawyers, a state lawmaker, and former Mexico president Vicente Fox, Shively said he is a "couple weeks" from an initial $10 million milestone, and within three years, he fully expects to … Continue reading “Yes, we are Big Marijuana”
Rights, morality and drug policy
Mark Kleiman recently wrote a great post on morality in drug policy: Jonathan Rauch, who heads the Brookings side of the project, found that line of argument troubling. He asked me whether the interests of the responsible 80% should really have to yield to the interests of the irresponsible 20%. (Since the two … Continue reading Rights, morality and drug policy
How would we react to a CURE?
Howard Wetsman has been part of a workgroup challenging the dominance of pharmacological treatments and promoting psychosocial treatments. He's had some unsettling feelings and engaged in a thought experiment about what might happen if a real cure was developed. What we’re imagining is a complete cure. This is not a method for, let’s say, alcoholics … Continue reading How would we react to a CURE?
How to Legalize Pot
The NY Times recently had an Op-Ed based on an interview with Mark Kleiman about his plan for implementing Washington's new pot policy. (They voted to legalize it last fall.): If you read the proposal Kleiman’s team submitted to Washington State, you may be a little boggled by the complexities of turning an illicit herb … Continue reading How to Legalize Pot
Family, Secrecy and Addiction
The NY Times recently had a personal piece on the impact of addiction on parents: Addiction is, as we have learned, a family disease. The number of stories we’ve heard of wives, daughters, fathers, sons, nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters – not in counseling or therapy scenarios, but from people who recognize our … Continue reading Family, Secrecy and Addiction
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