First, DEATHS among drug users have hit a record high in Scotland, increasing by a fifth in 2011, the latest government figures reveal. Last year 584 people died from drug use, which means that drugs now account for one in every 100 deaths in Scotland. The heroin substitute, methadone, was at the heart of the … Continue reading Two stories on methadone
Tag: Substance abuse
The truth is dangerous
How hard is it for the DEA to have an honest conversation about drugs? Below is testimony from the director. Note the incoherence. “Is crack worse for a person than marijuana?” Polis asked Leonhart. “I believe all illegal drugs are bad,” Leonhart answered. Polis continued, asking whether methamphetamines and heroin were worse for a person's … Continue reading The truth is dangerous
A Brief History of Queer Experience with Addiction and Recovery
There are a lot of generalizations about LGBT communities and treatment, but this is an interesting commentary on the place of addiction and recovery in the queer health agenda: As early as 1970, gay activists in recovery began to challenge AA in the flurry of queer-positive activity that followed Stonewall, petitioning AA for the right … Continue reading A Brief History of Queer Experience with Addiction and Recovery
Disease and choice
A NY Times philosophy blogger challenges the hijacked brain metaphor for addiction: It might be tempting to claim that in an addiction scenario, the drugs or behaviors are the hijackers. However, those drugs and behaviors need to be done by the person herself (barring cases in which someone is given drugs and may be made … Continue reading Disease and choice
Residential?
From the United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control: 11. Finding: Traditionally, U.S. Presidents – through ONDCP – have divided drug demand reduction into two main categories: prevention and treatment. However, the Obama Administration has added a third area: recovery. For the first time ever, in its 2010 National Drug Control Strategy, ONDCP focused on the need to invest in … Continue reading Residential?
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
More than two options
Mark Kleiman is making sense: "For every complex problem," H.L. Mencken wrote, "there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong." That is especially true of drug abuse and addiction. Indeed, the problem is so complex that it has produced not just one clear, simple, wrong solution but two: the "drug war" (prohibition plus … Continue reading More than two options
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
Group treatment has long term benefits
From the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research: Background: Group psychotherapy (PT) is one of the most common interventions used to treat alcohol dependence (AD), and it is assumed to be effective. Despite its common clinical use, long-term trials that have been conducted to examine the efficacy of group PT in the treatment of outpatients with AD … Continue reading Group treatment has long term benefits
Recovery Review 