“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” ― Noel Langley, The Wizard of Oz Screenplay On March, 18th, 1898, Heroin was introduced to the world as a cough suppressant by its maker, Friedrich Bayer & Co, now known principally as a producer of Aspirin. Bayer marketed Heroin as a cough suppressant with weaker narcotic properties … Continue reading Once Bitten Twice Shy – the Recovery Community and the False Promise of Harmless Drugs
Tag: Health
The Risks of Public Recovery Storytelling (Bill White, Bill Stauffer, and Danielle Tarino)
The first blog in this series explored the value and limitations of recovery storytelling as an anti-stigma strategy. We suggested that public storytelling is best wedded to larger recovery community inclusive strategies that move beyond the goal of changing personal attitudes to the larger goal of dismantling the institutional machinery that perpetuates stigma and discrimination. … Continue reading The Risks of Public Recovery Storytelling (Bill White, Bill Stauffer, and Danielle Tarino)
Is it harmful to frame addiction as a disease?
Yesterday's post discussed a response to a guide intended to facilitate the protection of people with lived experience when sharing their personal stories. Activism for the rights of people who use drugs and models of recovery that include ongoing AOD use increasingly destabilizes our understandings of the nature of addiction and its solutions, often seeking … Continue reading Is it harmful to frame addiction as a disease?
Guidelines for publicly sharing addiction recovery stories: protecting, paternalism, or gatekeeping?
Several months ago, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing (NCMW) posted their Protecting Individuals with Lived Experience in Public Disclosure Guide. They describe it as a tool for self-evaluation allowing individuals and organizations to assess the risks to people publicly sharing addiction and recovery stories. I've seen little attention to this topic, but I welcome … Continue reading Guidelines for publicly sharing addiction recovery stories: protecting, paternalism, or gatekeeping?
Constructive Feedback and thoughts on the SAMHSA Unified Client-Level Performance Reporting Tool (SUPRT)
As posted in the Federal Register in early September, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA is seeking approval for the new SAMHSA Unified Client-level Performance Reporting … Continue reading Constructive Feedback and thoughts on the SAMHSA Unified Client-Level Performance Reporting Tool (SUPRT)
the evolving drug tastes of society
Here are a few sentences to ponder, as we process the latest data on the overdose crisis: Most drug epidemics don’t simply disappear: they transform themselves into something else. For example, periods of excessive stimulant use are often followed by periods of rising alcohol, sedative and opiate use. There are drug-facilitated cycles of stimulation, introspection, … Continue reading the evolving drug tastes of society
Nora Volkow on More Realistic And Pragmatic Addiction Treatment
(This post was originally published on 2/6/2022) Source: NIDA There is and can be no ultimate solution for us to discover, but instead a permanent need for balancing contradictory claims, for careful trade-offs between conflicting values, toleration of difference, consideration of the specific factors at play when a choice is needed, not reliance on an … Continue reading Nora Volkow on More Realistic And Pragmatic Addiction Treatment
Every response is incomplete
Over the last decade, as faith in the effectiveness of drug policy, addiction treatment, and drug enforcement diminished, interest and hope in harm reduction grew. Harm reduction was once a last resort response to drug problems and in recent years has become the first line response to drug problems. Harm reduction is now receiving the … Continue reading Every response is incomplete
Addiction, Stigma, and Liberation
(Originally posted August 14, 2022) I recently stumbled on this educational page about stigma from the National Harm Reduction Coalition. It's well done and illuminates the assumptions and goals for their stigma reduction efforts. They frame responding to drug use as a choice between liberation and stigma, with harm reduction as the path to liberation. … Continue reading Addiction, Stigma, and Liberation
Multiple pathways as a disruptor: from what to what?
"Multiple pathways to recovery" has been popularized by the new recovery advocacy movement (NRAM) and Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC), but the concept has been around since at least 1944. The September 1944 issue of Alcoholics Anonymous' Grapevine published an article by Philip Wylie, describing his solo recovery supported by psychologists and reading. Bill … Continue reading Multiple pathways as a disruptor: from what to what?
Recovery Review 