A very interesting CESAR Fax this week. They report on a study finding that 69% of non-injection drug users surveyed reported using buprenorphine (Suboxone) to get high, while 32% of injection drug users surveyed reported using it to get high. I think that both numbers are high enough to raise concern, but the difference in … Continue reading Use of diverted buprenorphine
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.
Hey, it will help control it
Our national drug is alcohol. We tend to regard the use of any other drug with special horror. – William Burroughs An apparent trend at college football stadiums: An increasing number of colleges are selling beer to legal-age drinkers to increase profits, according to The Des Moines Register. Beer will be sold at 20 major college venues this year, … Continue reading Hey, it will help control it
Drilling down into DV and drugs
A recent study gets into some of the nitty gritty of substance use disorders and interpersonal violence (IPV): Alcohol use disorders and cocaine use disorders were most strongly associated with IPV perpetration, while cannabis use disorders and opioid use disorders were most strongly associated with IPV victimization. A diagnosis of both an alcohol use disorder … Continue reading Drilling down into DV and drugs
Sober on Campus
My early recovery would have been much, much easier if something like this existed at Michigan State or Eastern Michigan. I suspect it would have also helped with this *ahem* bumpy academic period. Two Big Ten giants, the University of Michigan and Penn State University, this summer are launching recovery programs that they expect eventually … Continue reading Sober on Campus
Cherry-picking evidence?
Scientific American gives ink to a treatment critic: I don't believe that traditional rehabilitation using self-help methods is effective. In fact, the data suggest that they're not much better than spontaneous rates of recovery. He cites one study that looked only at alcohol dependence (DSM dependence which is likely to capture many people that may not be alcoholics, in … Continue reading Cherry-picking evidence?
Not qualified for getting their driving license?
A study of psychomotor and cognitive function reaches this conclusion: Patients receiving a stable dose of sublingual buprenorphine showed no significant impairment of complex psychomotor or cognitive performance as compared to healthy controls. However intake of illicit drugs as well as the lack of social reliability are major problems in this specific patients group. Despite … Continue reading Not qualified for getting their driving license?
Brain training
A treatment provider makes the case for mindfulness as recovery tool: For many years, scientists believed that the brain’s plasticity, that is, its ability to create new structures and learn, was limited after childhood. However, new research shows that we can alter the structure of the brain and reap the benefits well into adulthood. Sara … Continue reading Brain training
Passing the torch to who?
Mark Saunders notes that a generation of addiction trainers are approaching retirement and there is no clear cohort for them to pass the torch to. Over the course of the past quarter-century, other speakers/trainers have emerged to shape the field of addiction treatment and recovery, including but not limited to: Jacqueline Small, author of Becoming Naturally … Continue reading Passing the torch to who?
instinct, without conscious thought
A great description of addiction: If you never find your drug of choice, a dirty band-aid to the gaping wound of neurochemical imbalance, then perhaps you’ll never find addiction. For most of us, it isn’t worth the experiment to know. For others, it starts out innocently, by becoming too reliant on pain pills prescribed by … Continue reading instinct, without conscious thought
“real addiction treatment”
I've previously expressed concern about the medicalization of addiction treatment as health care reform takes effect. Here's an ASAM member's complaint that addiction medicine physicians have not sufficiently medicalized their treatment services: I also respect those individuals who have suffered from the disease of addiction and have found help with 12-Step based programs. I understand … Continue reading “real addiction treatment”
Recovery Review 