Andrew Kolodny, from Phoenix House, supports naloxone distribution but also shares his thoughts on its limits. I recall, not so long ago, when naloxone distribution was considered cutting edge and controversial. Among its only champions were harm reduction organizations. Not anymore. Health officials, politicians, journalists, drug prevention groups, and the Food and Drug Administration are now … Continue reading Naloxone is not enough

Vermont*  is responding to opiate addiction by passing new legislation creating a system for screening offenders and offering treatment and diversion to people determined to be at low risk for re-offending in a way that "scares" the 3rd party screener. The bill was signed into law by the governor Tuesday and it gives prosecutors the option … Continue reading Vermont* offers treatment instead of jail

I can be a pretty naive guy, so this may not mean much, but I found this jaw-dropping. [emphasis mine] With blu, we can still be ourselves. After all, this country was founded on free will. Consider this kind of marketing strategy with marijuana. UPDATE: I'm all for moving away from locking people up, but I … Continue reading Sentences to ponder

Jag Bhalla shares a pretty mind-blowing observation: You are by nature self-deficient. Your constitution guarantees it, initially, chronically, and inalienably. Biology defying individualistic ideas now hide these once self-evident truths. What does this have to do with the subject of this blog? It speaks to a bias that is likely to turn up in a lot of … Continue reading self-deficient by nature

DJ Mac has a great guest post from a professional sharing his first exposure to 12 step recovery. I was astonished the first time I was taken to an NA meeting. I mean, really gobsmacked – you could have knocked me off my seat. The room was full of recovering heroin addicts; something I’d never … Continue reading Anti 12-step bias? What’s really going on?

All the recent attention to heroin and opiate use has brought about backlash from policy pundits. There was a JAMA Psychiatry study on the shifting demographics of heroin use over the last half century. In the 1960s, heroin was an urban phenomena and was 50% white and 50% black. Today, it's shifted to suburban and … Continue reading More than one truth

I love this. There's a lot of dramatic, self-indulgent and sensational recovery stuff out there. AfterPartyChat has a new series it describes this way. In AA meetings, you’ll often hear that the newcomer is the most important person in the room. I tend to agree—and also to shudder when I hear stories about cranky old-timers … Continue reading What’s it like to be 73 days sober?

Bill White just announced the publication of the second edition of Slaying the Dragon, his history of addiction, treatment and recovery in the United States. It's an intimidating book but, as big and as dense as it is, it's a great and easy read. You can approach it the way you used to be able … Continue reading Slaying the Dragon, 2nd edition!