I would have thought this was a softball in support of buprenorphine. But, no: Among subjects with prior criminal charges, initiation of office-based buprenorphine treatment did not appear to have a significant impact on subsequent criminal charges. The paper gets a little says that this lack of effect includes drug charges. I'm no fan of … Continue reading Criminal charges before and after initiation of buprenorphine maintenance
Category: Harm Reduction
Nicotine replacement ineffective
A recent study found nicotine replacement ineffective: In the prospective cohort study the researchers, including lead author Hillel Alpert, research scientist at HSPH, and co-author Lois Biener of the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Center for Survey Research, followed 787 adult smokers in Massachusetts who had recently quit smoking. The participants were surveyed over three time … Continue reading Nicotine replacement ineffective
Establishing residence in hell
Saving lives is good an important, but something about this feels like building an addition on a house in hell. Naloxone is a medication administered usually by injection which rapidly reverses the effects of opiate-type drugs such as heroin, including the respiratory depression which can cause what are normally referred to as 'overdose' deaths. ... The … Continue reading Establishing residence in hell
Top Posts of 2011 #1 – The Suboxone “Solution”
The Fix has a provocative article on the growing use of buprenorphine maintenance. Over the last several years we've watched long-term maintenance become the norm and it has been a growing concern at Dawn Farm, particularly as we've had growing numbers of people misusing the drug and others seeking help getting detoxed from buprenorphine. She … Continue reading Top Posts of 2011 #1 – The Suboxone “Solution”
Needle exchanges won’t solve Hep C crisis but recovery will
From Keith Humphreys: Needle exchange and other programs that attempt to promote safer injection rely on behavioral change. Anyone who has been on a diet knows that behavioral change is hard to do lastingly and perfectly, even for people who are not addicted to a drug. It is therefore unsurprising that research using DNA samples from needles … Continue reading Needle exchanges won’t solve Hep C crisis but recovery will
Harm reduction as beta?
I saw this on "beta-think" and wondered if it offered something helpful for the harm reduction/recovery divide: Voltaire was half right. “Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien,” he said: The best is the enemy of the good. The best is also the enemy of the better. Striving for perfection complicates and delays getting things done. … Continue reading Harm reduction as beta?
A basic human right
A letter to The Guardian expresses a sentiment that I believe is unsaid but at the at the root of many drug policy disagreements: the "war" is not only wrong in practice, it is wrong in principle. The right to intoxicate is a fundamental human right, as basic as the rights to worship or to engage in … Continue reading A basic human right
In the news
The Times Colonist has a series on addiction that grapples with the questions of what services to provide (Namely, harm reduction vs. treatment.) in the context of scarce resources.
The Emperor of All Maladies
I've been reading The Emperor of All Maladies and I've been very struck by the parallels between the is philosophical and practical challenges faced by cancer and addiction researchers, advocates and practitioners. One of the pioneers of cancer research, treatment and advocacy faced difficult decisions about whether to disclose his own illness: Proud, guarded, and secretive—reluctant to … Continue reading The Emperor of All Maladies
Addiction in the News
From the director of a Maine OD prevention project: Katz cited Suboxone as the latest drug to be abused. The trend is particularly unnerving because of Suboxone's importance in treating opiate addiction when used for its intended purpose. “Suboxone can turn people’s lives around,” Katz said. “Pharmaceutical companies assured everyone it couldn’t be abused. All … Continue reading Addiction in the News
Recovery Review 