Tag: heroin

With Rise Of Painkiller Abuse, A Closer Look At Heroin

~ Jason Schwartz ~ 2 Comments

  The number of people who had used heroin in the previous year increased between 2007 and 2012, from 373,000 to 669,000. Meanwhile, federal data from 2011 finds that nearly 80 percent of people who had used heroin in the past year had also previously abused prescription painkillers classified as opioids.   via With Rise … Continue reading With Rise Of Painkiller Abuse, A Closer Look At Heroin

Indescribable horror turned into advocacy

~ Jason Schwartz ~ 4 Comments

Bill White appears to have started blogging! His most recent post touches upon an issue that is close to my heart. People in recovery and their family members are leading what is rapidly becoming an international recovery advocacy movement, but there are faces and voices notably absent from the frontlines of this movement:  the families … Continue reading Indescribable horror turned into advocacy

Heroin Shortages Drive Deadly Alternatives

~ Jason Schwartz

  Though the federal government is participating in marketing buprenorphine as having low addiction potential, buprenorphine is being identified as a growing problem overseas:   Responses to the drought varied by country, with drug users in each developing their own preferences for heroin alternatives, according to reports from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and … Continue reading Heroin Shortages Drive Deadly Alternatives

The benefits of harm reduction are not as obvious as they seem

~ Jason Schwartz ~ 7 Comments

Theodore Dalrymple points out the inconsistency in the British Medical Journal's vigorous advocacy for harm reduction where heroin is concerned and its squeamishness with harm reduction for nicotine. He pulls a passage from BMJ and inserts comments: What, then, does the BMJ, so much in favour of harm reduction for heroin addicts, say about harm reduction … Continue reading The benefits of harm reduction are not as obvious as they seem

2012′s most popular posts #9 – What Vietnam taught us

~ Jason Schwartz ~ 4 Comments

  I seem to have noticed an uptick in book, news and blog references to heroin addiction among returning Vietnam vets. (A Google news search suggests that this perception is accurate. I suspect it's because it offers a narrative that's consistent with the current monoculture.) It's claimed that this offers important lessons about addiction and behavior … Continue reading 2012′s most popular posts #9 – What Vietnam taught us

Changes in brain gray matter in abstinent heroin addicts

~ Jason Schwartz ~ 1 Comment

A few years ago, Bill White called for research on the neurobiology of recovery. (He noted that all of our research efforts have been focused on understanding addiction without any research on understanding recovery.) Well, some Chinese researchers have made a contribution. Good news for heroin addicts. Background Previous neuroimaging studies have documented changes in … Continue reading Changes in brain gray matter in abstinent heroin addicts