I'm not a fan of either of these high profile addiction experts, but Stanton Peele's recounting of his meeting with Gabor Maté illuminates a lot about both men and their approach to addiction. It also helps in understanding the conceptual boundaries of harm reduction, at least as Peele sees them. The boundaries are more rigid than … Continue reading Stanton, you have deep unresolved pain
Tag: Harm Reduction
Throwback Sunday – Pessimistic Paternalism
I'm doubling up this week with two posts on harm reduction from December 2006. I've written often about the subtle bigotry of low expectations, these two posts illustrate that concern. (I like my reference to "pessimistic paternalism disguised as compassionate pragmatism.") ======================== Debate on abstinence A horrifying excerpt from a debate in a British treatment provider magazine. … Continue reading Throwback Sunday – Pessimistic Paternalism
you are still valued and respected
DJ Mac directs us to an interview with a English recovering harm reduction advocate, Kevin Jaffray. He shares a little of his own experience of fighting and, eventually, entering recovery. [emphasis mine] Speaking as someone who came into abstinence kicking and screaming – thankfully with my health intact – after a number of chaotic years in … Continue reading you are still valued and respected
Vancouver, Insite and HIV infection rates
I recently stumbled onto this blog post with a very interesting observation about Vancouver, Insite and HIV infection rates. Vancouver has seen a marked decrease in the incidence of AIDS/HIV and those who promote harm reduction sites point to the injection site called Insite as proof of success but they are wrong. The reduction of HIV/AIDS in … Continue reading Vancouver, Insite and HIV infection rates
“looking past these behaviors”
This article got me thinking about the bigotry of low expectations and the importance of continuing to assert that every addict should be offered treatment services that provide a path to full recovery, not just symptom or harm reduction. If it's not suicide or drug overdoses doing the killing in psychiatric patients after all, how … Continue reading “looking past these behaviors”
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
Missing the point
The American Journal of Public Heath (behind a paywall) has a new study looking at 2 year trajectories of residents in a "wet shelter". The found that the residents reduced their drinking by 40%. Reducing drinking in these cases is a very good thing. To me, there are several important questions but the first might … Continue reading Missing the point
Recovery Review 