...when you try to balance the damage caused by pain against the damage caused by drug abuse, nobody wins. Barry Meier on Fresh Air
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.
Sentences to ponder
"I had a doctor who I greatly respect who said, 'We thought the great problem with these drugs [opioids] is addiction. What we didn't realize [was] that the people who take them would opt out of life.' And you see it across the spectrum: One of the more startling things is in the area of … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
Sentences to ponder
Room for debate: How to safely sell marijuana
The News York Times recently had a "Room for Debate" section on how to safely sell marijuana. To my mind, only one contribution really addressed that question, Mark Kleiman's. Check it out.
without someone like me!?!?!?
Keith Humphreys is pretty great in this interview: Harold Pollack: I should say you've also done some research on AA [Alcoholics Anonymous]. I think some folks would be interested to know that, at least according to your research, AA is actually a pretty impressive intervention in some ways. Keith: Yeah. I don't mind people who are skeptical … Continue reading without someone like me!?!?!?
Drugs + capitalism + innovation = ?
Andrew Sullivan directs us to a story on "dabs", a highly concentrated cannabis product: Most commonly created by a technique in which high quality pot is blasted with butane that is then extracted, these cannabis concentrates approach 70%-to-90% THC. ... Brad Gibbs, of Greenest Green, which has just opened a new state-approved lab in Denver … Continue reading Drugs + capitalism + innovation = ?
“No” to rehab?
I was asked by a friend to comment on this article. Here's the response I sent him: Well, he's got a point. But he's also gotten a lot wrong, including the name of the NIAAA. It's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcohol-ism. What he's right about is that not everyone who has an alcohol … Continue reading “No” to rehab?
Labeling legal weed
Mark Kleiman's looking for ideas about how to label marijuana in a hypothetical legal, commercial market: Imagine – just hypothetically – that a state decided to open a legal (at the state level) commercial market in cannabis, with some of the users intending to use the substance to treat some medical condition and others using … Continue reading Labeling legal weed
Prescription drug overdose statistics visually
Popular Science has a chart with US overdose deaths by drug: ...the rate of reported overdoses the U.S. more than doubled between 1999 and 2010. About half of those additional deaths are in the pharmaceuticals category, which the CDC has written about before. Nearly three-quarters of the pharmaceuticals deaths are opioid analgesics—prescription painkillers like OxyContin and … Continue reading Prescription drug overdose statistics visually
Ten Percent in Recovery – NOT
Here's the headline at Partnership for a Drug-Free America: Survey: Ten Percent of American Adults Report Being in Recovery from Substance Abuse or Addiction Very interesting news, right? How did they arrive at that number? With a poll that asks, "Did you once have a problem with drugs or alcohol, but no longer do?" Does that measure … Continue reading Ten Percent in Recovery – NOT
Recovery Review 