The European Union is banning menthol cigarettes. Are legalization advocates troubled by this? I'm asking sincerely. Same thing with K2 and Spice. They were banned in Michigan earlier this year, without protest. At what point does the conversation turn to the issue of eliminating restrictions on access to prescription drugs? If recreational use of pot … Continue reading New drug bans
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.
How low can we go?
This is the sound of the bar being lowered.
How full do you want your recovery to be?
Bill White on the importance of primary care: The Philadelphia survey goes beyond affirming the significant prevalence of recovery in the general population to provide a detailed profile of the health of people in recovery. The results are sobering. People in recovery, compared to citizens not in recovery, are twice as likely to describe their … Continue reading How full do you want your recovery to be?
Sentences to ponder
It is time we broadened our vision beyond what we can subtract from people's lives in the short run to encompass what can be added to enrich those lives in the long term. --William White
Tribes of the Recovering Community request
I'm planning on doing these tribes of the recovering community posts every Sunday for the next year. If you have suggestions, please send them. I can't promise I'll use all of the suggestions, but I will be grateful for your help. Thanks!
Tribes of the recovering community
Not a Glum Lot - New York organizes what looks like amazing outdoorsy trips that include camping, rafting, skiing as well as a Thanksgiving trip and Christmas dinner in Times Square. Very, very cool looking.
Neglect of social and community and family dimensions
Atheist PZ Meyers responds to a post discussing why "normal" people are drawn to fundamentalism: We’d like to believe that the triumph of secularism is inevitable — how can we fail when we’re going up against such nutty ideas? — but maybe it isn’t, if we neglect social and community and family ideals and pander … Continue reading Neglect of social and community and family dimensions
Worth Every Penny?
Preventing HIV is a very good thing. The Atlantic has a post about the role of needle exchanges in preventing HIV. It makes a pretty compelling case that needle exchanges reduce HIV infection rates among injection drug users. I don't doubt this. And, provided it serves as an engagement point for recovery, I have no … Continue reading Worth Every Penny?
If it wasn’t rational, cont’d
All right, last one. This time, Sally Satel makes the case that recovery comes down to choice and "grit and conviction." It's not just American Enterprise Institute fellows who make these arguments. I've heard people in recovery say to other AA members in relapse, "You need to make a decision!" Of course, the relapser has … Continue reading If it wasn’t rational, cont’d
If it wasn’t rational, cont’d
Sam Wilkinson responds to the the coverage of Hart's research (That crack and meth addicts in a lab will decline drugs for money.) and agrees that addiction is rational. Hart has found the same thing. It isn’t the addicts are powerless; it’s that nothing on the other side of the scale weighs as much as … Continue reading If it wasn’t rational, cont’d
Recovery Review 