Bill White shares his perspective on what the media misses in coverage of drug and alcohol problems. 3. The media mistakenly conflate recovery with active addiction and addiction treatment with addiction recovery. 4. Media outlets portray addiction recovery as an exception to the rule. 5. Media coverage of drug-related celebrity mayhem … Continue reading Waiting for Breaking Good?
Category: Controversies
It’s “changed the whole world”
A few weeks ago, I asked about how e-cigarettes might be used for other drugs and Dirk Hanson pointed out that it was already happening. The Detroit Free Press covered this segment of the pot economy: Chris Folkerts started selling electronic cigarette-like devices from the trunk of his car two years ago. Now he and … Continue reading It’s “changed the whole world”
Hope, empowerment, capability, connection and purpose
Hopeworks Community recently listed his core beliefs related to his recovery from mental illness: The idea was simple. There are a few core beliefs about recovery that make a difference. To the extent you are able to live them your recovery will be positively impacted. My list of core beliefs was simple: Life can get better. … Continue reading Hope, empowerment, capability, connection and purpose
How Dangerous are e-cigarettes?
A lot of cities and organizations are sorting through how to respond to the rise of e-cigarettes. Many are beginning to treat them like cigarettes, extending smoking policies to e-cigarettes. Mark Kleiman thinks this is nuts. The Los Angeles City Council just voted for a complete ban on e-cigarettes wherever real cigarettes are banned, including … Continue reading How Dangerous are e-cigarettes?
Abstinence—The Only Way to Beat Addiction?
What killed Philip Seymour Hoffman? According to Anne Fletcher, it wasn't the doctor who prescribed him the pain medication that began his relapse, it wasn't the prescribers of the combination of meds found in his body, it wasn't his discontinuing the behaviors that maintained his recovery for 23 years, it wasn't a drug dealer, and … Continue reading Abstinence—The Only Way to Beat Addiction?
It will kill people as soon as it’s released
The upcoming release of Zohydro has been getting a lot of attention: The hydrocodone-based drug is the latest in a long line of painkillers called opioid analgesics. The FDA approved the medication last fall to treat chronic pain, and it is set to become available to patients in March. The drug was approved against the advice … Continue reading It will kill people as soon as it’s released
You start losing everything
NY Magazine shares a jarring photo essay. (Trigger warning, the images are pretty graphic.) Most documentary projects about addiction expose someone else’s self-destructive behavior, but Graham MacIndoe took a very different approach: He photographed himself during the years he was addicted to drugs. He’d place a cheap digital camera on a table or bookshelf, set the … Continue reading You start losing everything
Medication: The smart-pill oversell
Given the simultaneous explosion in ADHD diagnosis, prescribed use of stimulants and non-medical use of stimulants, maybe it's time to look at the cost/benefit ratio. We'll it's clear that the benefits aren't all that. What to make of it? Researchers are beginning to address this paradox. How can medication that makes children sit still and … Continue reading Medication: The smart-pill oversell
Tough love?
In a public facebook post, David Sheff rails against "tough love" advice to kick addicted loved ones out of the house: Like so many others, he's been indoctrinated by counselors, therapists, and people in 12 step groups. Al-Anon is wonderful --it helped me-- but it doesn’t tell us to let a child or spouse or … Continue reading Tough love?
Sentences to ponder
This is what it's all about. "I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad I want to live again. I have dreams. I want a family. I want to experience life. And right now, I’m heading in the right direction." via A suburban heroin addict describes his brush with death and his hopes for a better life … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
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