Will It Ever End?
...he had become a prime target for exploitation by some truly awful people.
The Meth Mess – Oman coming
...one past error has been to overemphasize the more glamorous supply side interventions – interdiction and law enforcement – while paying much less attention to the  demand side of the bargain.
If you don’t mind, I’d like to use this post to recommend a novel. Assuming you haven’t already read Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver, that is.
The book’s a retelling of the Dickens classic David Copperfield, reset in the 1990’s in an area of Appalachia especially hard-hit during the early years of the opioid epidemic.
That was when OxyContin and other prescription painkillers flooded the region and helped to create a whole new generation of addicts— including many women who would eventually turn to the streets and become heroin users. Or today, since we’re in the fourth wave of that same epidemic, they’d be using fentanyl.
Demon Copperhead is fiction, of course, but the kind that is a lot better at illuminating the truth of a complex situation than the usual fact-based account.
Also, it’s a darn good read.
No surprise, then, that the novel was a huge success, commercially and critically — it won the Pulitzer Prize, after all.  The...
The book’s a retelling of the Dickens classic David Copperfield, reset in the 1990’s in an area of Appalachia especially hard-hit during the early years of the opioid epidemic.
That was when OxyContin and other prescription painkillers flooded the region and helped to create a whole new generation of addicts— including many women who would eventually turn to the streets and become heroin users. Or today, since we’re in the fourth wave of that same epidemic, they’d be using fentanyl.
Demon Copperhead is fiction, of course, but the kind that is a lot better at illuminating the truth of a complex situation than the usual fact-based account.
Also, it’s a darn good read.
No surprise, then, that the novel was a huge success, commercially and critically — it won the Pulitzer Prize, after all.  The...
- Thinking About Addiction
- In the News
- Public Health
- Public Policy
Will It Ever End?
...he had become a prime target for exploitation by some truly awful people.
OD Epidemic Nearing an End?
I couldn’t help noticing: The lack of references to the effectiveness of interdiction and law-enforcement.
A Bad Cut, at a Bad Time
Lives are at stake. We can’t rely on hunches. We need facts.
- Resources About
- Addiction
- Addictive Substances
- Prevention
- Recovery
- Treatment
Here We Go Again (Kratom)
...many of the former treatment patients quickly developed the same problems with kratom that they had with alcohol or cocaine or heroin— compulsive use, loss of control, and continued use despite adverse consequences.Â
Hardcore, once more
Incarceration alone is almost never very effective— in fact, drinking may well resume the day the offender is released.
Here We Go Again (Kratom)
...many of the former treatment patients quickly developed the same problems with kratom that they had with alcohol or cocaine or heroin— compulsive use, loss of control, and continued use despite adverse consequences.Â
Life in a Hot Spot
Make it a continuing effort, using strategies based in evidence, and harnessing the power of human interaction-- instead of relying on a burst of anti-drug education, however intense.
Aging in Recovery
She emphasizes how much stigma is encountered by older recovering persons in the healthcare system.
Should We Pay People Not to Use Meth?
...the fastest growing drug of abuse in many areas is methamphetamine, a stimulant. Incentive programs for drug abuse patients first appeared in the treatment of stimulant disorders, and much of the  evidence in support of the practice is based there.
- Resources For
- Addiction Clinicians
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Overstimulated?
I was nonetheless surprised to learn that one of the areas where use increased the most was among people in their 70s.Â
Overstimulated?
I was nonetheless surprised to learn that one of the areas where use increased the most was among people in their 70s.Â
Autism Can Be Expensive
Anxious parents are seeking coverage for proven behavioral therapies and getting turned down.
Intrusions into the Mind
...there solely to promote an impulse purchase of something the viewer doesn’t actually need or want. In this case,  a return to drug use.
How Long Is Too Long? Board-wise.
Longtime members may become proprietary towards the organization, and resist much-needed improvements on the grounds that "we’ve always done it this way."
- Library
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A Novel Approach
...the author, who grew up in and around the region, chose to use its earnings to found Higher Ground, a home for recovering women.
A Novel Approach
...the author, who grew up in and around the region, chose to use its earnings to found Higher Ground, a home for recovering women.
Diagnosing Cannabis Use Disorder: Updated
It certainly makes sense that if you suffer from a major mental illness, you should stay away from pot.
Video: Practical Advice on Prescription Painkiller Problems
People have abused opiates for 5,000 years. As much as medicine depends on them, they've always created problems for a percentage of users.
