. . . more money, less anxiety and more self-love. --Sarah F. AfterPartyChat continued its "what does someone with XXX days sober look like?" series. I can tell how much I was really white knuckling those first few weeks—just focusing so hard on not picking up a drink. Reading that made me grateful that the actual act … Continue reading It gets better. Believe it, because it does.

I was listening to a radiolab episode about efforts to restore ecosystems in the Galapagos islands and was struck by this line at 34:26. We're god. We might as well get good at it. And, we're going to have to create these ecosystems based on our best science. I'd wager that the speaker believes he's just following … Continue reading We’re god. We might as well get good at it.

Vox reports on the lack of regulation for e-cigarettes: Electronic cigarette companies are quietly winning the war on regulation by successfully lobbying state legislatures to exclude them from tobacco control laws. Public health officials and smoke-free advocates say industry-sponsored bills have the veneer of public health—with provisions about banning sales to minors—but avoid the more … Continue reading e-cigarette manufacturers lobbying their way out of regulation

Alan Weil, the Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs recently gave a talk on health care reform and "The 5 Engagements." The first two engagements are engaging the whole patient and engaging social supports. The video below covers those engagements. (The whole talk can be viewed here.) A couple of interesting discussion points include: one's zip code being … Continue reading Five Engagements That Will Define the Future of Health

From the Washington Post: The chart above shows the trend in teen marijuana use, as measured by state Youth Risky Behavior Surveys, in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Vermont. The x-axis is standardized to track the three-year periods before and after each state passed its medical marijuana law. The … Continue reading No change in teen pot use after medical marijuana passage?

"For harm reductionists, addiction is sometimes viewed as a learning disorder. This semantic construction seems to hold out the possibility of learning to drink or use drugs moderately after using them addictively. The fact that some non-alcoholics drink too much and ought to cut back, just as some recreational drug users need to ease up, … Continue reading Sentences to ponder

I just finished season 1 of the The Wire. (I know I'm way late to the party. What can I say? I have young kids and no HBO.) This Bill White post came out at about the same time I watched Bubbles trying to kick. It is one of the most beguiling qualities of the … Continue reading the gaping nothingness of one’s future

We've always argued that no one should go to jail for possession of marijuana and I agree that it makes sense for the federal government to step out of the way of states that want to try another path. The NY Times editorial board comes out in favor of marijuana legalization. I'm ambivalent about full … Continue reading NY Times goes pro-pot