I do not consider myself a drug warrior. (Though, few people do these days. It can be a little like racism. People attribute it to others, but never themselves.) I oppose incarcerating people for possession of quantities consistent with personal use. I favor policies that target demand rather than supply. I'm also skeptical of hype … Continue reading K2, Spice and legalization
Tag: Health
Revenge and the reward system
I've often wondered about all of AA's emphasis on resentment and whether research will end up provide an evidence-base for all the attention it receives in the steps, literature and discussion. I found this, from a recent episode of On Being, very interesting: Mr. McCullough: And if you look at the brain of somebody who has just … Continue reading Revenge and the reward system
Road traffic crashes and prescribed methadone and buprenorphine
Last year, a study questioned whether buprenorphine patients should be allowed to drive because 60% tested positive for other drugs. Now, another study reaches similar findings: Background Opioids have been shown to impair psychomotor and cognitive functioning in healthy volunteers with no history of opioid abuse. Few or no significant effects have been found in opioid-dependant … Continue reading Road traffic crashes and prescribed methadone and buprenorphine
n=8
Published in a prestigious journal with an 'n' of 8. Unbelievable. Participants Eight cocaine-using adults. Measurements Subjects completed nine experimental sessions in which they were pre-treated with 0, 100 or 200 mg oral immediate release bupropion. Ninety minutes later they sampled an intranasal cocaine dose [4 (placebo), 15 or 45 mg] and made six choices between that dose and … Continue reading n=8
Human rights and coerced treatment
A recent article looks at the ethics and effectiveness of coerced treatment: It has been argued that quasi-compulsory treatment (QCT) may be considered ethical (under some specific conditions) for drug dependent offenders who have committed criminal offences for whom the usual penal sanction would be more restrictive of liberty than the forms of treatment … Continue reading Human rights and coerced treatment
No. 1 Littered Item in the United States is on Roads and Beaches?
...cigarette butts are the No. 1 littered item every year on U.S. roadways and beaches. It had to be about 19 years ago that I flicked a cigarette butt to the ground and stepped on it outside of a meeting. My sponsor ran over and picked up and threw it out saying, "What's wrong with … Continue reading No. 1 Littered Item in the United States is on Roads and Beaches?
Emotional pain without context
Siddhartha Mukherjee provides a brief history of the serotonin hypothesis of depression, its demise and why dismissing serotonin may be an "overcorrection." Part of this story is an emerging theory of depression: A remarkable and novel theory for depression emerges from these studies. Perhaps some forms of depression occur when a stimulus — genetics, environment … Continue reading Emotional pain without context
Evidence-based policy wrong-headed
Keith Humphreys rejects the notion of evidence based policy: ...what we do with scientific evidence is always a political and moral judgment. We don’t provide health care to the sick because the evidence forces us to. We provide health care to the sick because such activity is in keeping with our values. Likewise, we might choose to … Continue reading Evidence-based policy wrong-headed
Why we can’t agree
The Obama administration just released their annual drug control strategy report and all the headlines say it emphasizes treatment over incarceration. Sounds great, but the stories are short on details. Others, from the Drug Policy Alliance are dismissing it as more of the same. More of the same? Really? I think Obama's safely within the … Continue reading Why we can’t agree
How Exercise Can Prime the Brain for Addiction
This makes sense, but is a weird thing to think about. Drug addiction may be more difficult to kick if it became habitual while exercise if part of your routine: It does indicate that shedding an addiction acquired when a person has been exercising could be extra challenging, he says. “But, really, what … Continue reading How Exercise Can Prime the Brain for Addiction
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