The NYT recently published an article on allegations of ethics violations and fraud in Acadia Healthcare's methadone clinics. It's a big deal because Acadia is big, really big. "The for-profit chain of 165 methadone clinics — the country’s largest — has generated more than $1.3 billion in revenue since 2022." The allegations include not providing … Continue reading Opioid settlement funds will be “a really nice tailwind”
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.
Unpopular opinion: Attention to recovery advocacy and ROSC has come at the expense of Recovery Management, harming treatment patients
This post isn't meant to suggest that ROSC or recovery advocacy are bad in any way. Rather, it is meant to suggest that Recovery Management has been underdeveloped while energy and enthusiasm have been focused on recovery advocacy and ROSC. It also isn't meant to assign blame, I'm just sharing an observation. Recovery Management (RM) … Continue reading Unpopular opinion: Attention to recovery advocacy and ROSC has come at the expense of Recovery Management, harming treatment patients
Experience is the best teacher. What’s the lesson?
(source) From a 1995 study: As recently as 1988, researchers in New York City suggested the adoption of crack smoking, in lieu of intravenous cocaine use, as a mechanism of AIDS risk reduction (Des Jarlais and Friedman, 1988). However, recent studies indicate that when compared with intravenous drug users, crack smokers may be at equal … Continue reading Experience is the best teacher. What’s the lesson?
A War on Recovery?
STAT just ran another article in its "War on Recovery" series and continues its narrative of casting recovering people in Narcotics Anonymous and non-agonist recovery pathways as the villains. There's an important story undergirding this article (and the previous article attacking recovering people in NA) -- that there are important gaps in social support for … Continue reading A War on Recovery?
Is it harmful to frame addiction as a disease?
Yesterday's post discussed a response to a guide intended to facilitate the protection of people with lived experience when sharing their personal stories. Activism for the rights of people who use drugs and models of recovery that include ongoing AOD use increasingly destabilizes our understandings of the nature of addiction and its solutions, often seeking … Continue reading Is it harmful to frame addiction as a disease?
Guidelines for publicly sharing addiction recovery stories: protecting, paternalism, or gatekeeping?
Several months ago, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing (NCMW) posted their Protecting Individuals with Lived Experience in Public Disclosure Guide. They describe it as a tool for self-evaluation allowing individuals and organizations to assess the risks to people publicly sharing addiction and recovery stories. I've seen little attention to this topic, but I welcome … Continue reading Guidelines for publicly sharing addiction recovery stories: protecting, paternalism, or gatekeeping?
the evolving drug tastes of society
Here are a few sentences to ponder, as we process the latest data on the overdose crisis: Most drug epidemics don’t simply disappear: they transform themselves into something else. For example, periods of excessive stimulant use are often followed by periods of rising alcohol, sedative and opiate use. There are drug-facilitated cycles of stimulation, introspection, … Continue reading the evolving drug tastes of society
As federal government supports recovery, it should encourage expungements of substance use disorder-related arrests and convictions
by guest contributor Mitchell Berger, MPH In recent years, federal agencies have increasingly emphasized supporting those in recovery from substance use disorders (SUDs). The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), for instance, formed in 2021 an Office of Recovery to “forge partnerships to support all people, families and communities impacted by mental health and/or substance use conditions … Continue reading As federal government supports recovery, it should encourage expungements of substance use disorder-related arrests and convictions
Unstable therapists and an intoxicating sense of power
A sentence to ponder on a hot topic. “The trouble is, LSD attracts unstable therapists as much as it does the neurotic patient,” said Sidney Cohen, a leading psychedelic researcher and psychiatrist, in 1963. “It gives them an intoxicating sense of power to bestow such a fabulous experience on others.” Enders, C. (2024, August 23). … Continue reading Unstable therapists and an intoxicating sense of power
A lost vision, community despair, professional contempt, and people who “suck”
In the midst of growing pessimism in the American culture about the prospects of recovery, there is a growing call for a new, grassroots recovery advocacy. This movement is re-raising questions about the potentials and pitfalls in the interrelationship between recovering people, mutual aid organizations, treatment institutions, and public education and social advocacy agencies. White, … Continue reading A lost vision, community despair, professional contempt, and people who “suck”
Recovery Review 