This has gotten a lot of attention [emphasis mine]: ...for the first time, Hazelden will begin providing medication-assisted treatment for people hooked on heroin or opioid painkillers, starting at its Center City, Minnesota facility and expanding across its treatment network in five states in 2013.Ā This so-called maintenance therapy differs from simply detoxifying addicts until … Continue reading Hazelden to start opioid maintenance
Category: Harm Reduction
They’ve got hope for something. But, what?
Stimulant maintenance therapy did not work š¦ This study did not find a significant main effect of modafinil on the rate or duration of cocaine use among cocaine-dependent patients. Now they decide to polish the turd: Although these results are disappointing, we did find that modafinil-treated patients had nonsignificantly higher odds of attaining abstinence across … Continue reading They’ve got hope for something. But, what?
Methadone and employment
These findings were characterized as "counterintuitive". Findings from multivariate analyses initially showed no association between treatment enrollment and employment transitions. However, when a distinction was made between MMT and other addiction treatment modalities, it became clear that the relationship between addiction treatment and employment outcomes for IDU in this setting was contingent upon the type … Continue reading Methadone and employment
More on methadone
Points is publishing a series on methadone and offers a case for methadone without resorting to describing it as "the most effective treatment for opiate addiction." It's a pretty fairĀ piece. I had only one quibble with the facts of the story. This is unusual and very welcome. However, the author and I disagree starkly … Continue reading More on methadone
Two stories on methadone
First, DEATHS among drug users have hit a record high in Scotland, increasing by a fifth in 2011, the latest government figures reveal. Last year 584 people died from drug use, which means that drugs now account for one in every 100 deaths in Scotland. The heroin substitute, methadone, was at the heart of the … Continue reading Two stories on methadone
Methadone’s cognitive effects
Another study on methadone's cognitive effects: In one study, on the day after the last exposure to methadone, there was a significant reduction (around 70 per cent) in the level of a signal molecule which is important in learning and memory, in both the hippocampus and in the frontal area of the brain. This … Continue reading Methadone’s cognitive effects
The adjacent possible and hope
I heard a radio show this morning about where ideas come from. They interviewed a guy who wrote a book and gave a TED talk on the topic. During the interview he discussed the concept of the adjacent possible and it's importance in forming new ideas. During the interview, he described it as the building … Continue reading The adjacent possible and hope
Following the evidence
Ouch: Abstract: This paper raises the question about whether the data on the medications we call antidepressants justify the label of antidepressant. The authors argue that a true antidepressant should be clearly superior to placebo, should offer a risk/benefit balance that exceeds that of alternative treatments, should not increase suicidality, should not increase anxiety and … Continue reading Following the evidence
The political left and prohibition
Andrew Sullivan picks up on Jack Meserve's discussion of the political left and prohibition: Meserve: Think of a few of the currently illegal vices: recreational drug use, gambling, prostitution. With some exceptions, the left has been in favor of legalization or decriminalization of these activities. Now think of legal vices: gluttony, cigarette smoking, alcohol use. … Continue reading The political left and prohibition
Harsh enforcement has failed
This Foreign Policy article provides a concise snapshot of the failure of the "harsh enforcement" approach to drug policy: As a domestic policy, a harsh enforcement approach has done little to control drug use, but has done a lot to lock up a growing portionĀ of the U.S. population. Cocaine and opiate prices are about half … Continue reading Harsh enforcement has failed
Recovery Review 