Jennifer Matesa writes about the seeming contradictions in some recent FDA decisions. First they tightened regulations on hydrocodone, the most-prescribed drug in the U.S. and the opioid painkiller in Vicodin. Then, against the recommendation of their own advisors, they approved Zohydro, a long-acting hydrocodone whose formulation includes no mechanism to prevent abuse. So on the … Continue reading “I’m a unicorn”
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
"In 2012, 400 people in Macomb County, Mich., alone died from prescription narcotic overdose, said Dr. Joseph Naughton, director of medical education at Henry Ford Macomb Hospitals." (Source: USA Today)
In Race for Boston Mayor, Former Addicts Back Candidate With a Past
A colleague who specializes in working with at-risk youth was fond of saying that we could look at those kids as predators, victims or resources. Too often we fail to see them as resources. The same could be said of addicts and alcoholics. The NY Times shines a light on a recovering mayoral candidate who … Continue reading In Race for Boston Mayor, Former Addicts Back Candidate With a Past
Tribes of the Recovering Community
Bill White recently had a great post on recovery advocacy around the world. A flourishing recovery advocacy movement continues to spread across the United States that is spawning new recovery support structures and transforming addiction treatment in its wake. Even more unimaginable would have been a prediction that a recovery advocacy movement in the U.S. would … Continue reading Tribes of the Recovering Community
A drug to treat cocaine addiction?
A recent study on the use of topiramate for cocaine addiction has been getting a lot of attention. Most of the coverage draws only from the researchers press release. “Using an intent-to-treat analysis, the researchers found that topiramate was more efficacious than placebo at increasing the participants’ weekly proportion of cocaine nonuse days and in … Continue reading A drug to treat cocaine addiction?
Recovery should not become an ideology
Andrew Sullivan points to a recent talk by the pope discussing how faith is lost when it becomes an ideology. The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology. And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, … Continue reading Recovery should not become an ideology
Recovery and Harm Reduction
Bill White has a new paper on Recovery and Harm Reduction in Philadelphia. Here's a quote he offered in a blog post introducing the paper: Traditional harm reduction programs have pioneered low threshold services, but they have often also been characterized by low expectations. Our vision is to expand low threshold services that at the same … Continue reading Recovery and Harm Reduction
Sentences to ponder
If your loved one is suffering from addiction or mental health issues, it means you’re suffering right along with them. You don’t have to struggle alone. ... We can make it together. We Made It Together | Love First - Intervention for alcoholism and addiction
“The Situation” with PHARMA
Here are two sentence fragments (not taken out of context) from After Party Chat that show just how broken the pharmaceutical industry is: ...in 2012 Big Pharma spent 19 times as much on marketing as they did on research. ...Jersey Shore’s Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino is now shilling for Suboxone. It's hard to know where to start with … Continue reading “The Situation” with PHARMA
A chronic illness?
Bill White responds to a recent article that has gotten a lot of attention by Gene Heyman, a disease model critic. Heyman (and a couple of other recent articles) question whether it's accurate to call addiction a chronic illness. If there is anything that the full scope of modern research on the resolution of AOD problems is … Continue reading A chronic illness?
Recovery Review 