The construct of “addiction,” in which substance use is seen as an involuntary behavior is but one of multiple ways to understand substance use problems. I see all substance use as voluntary.

Hi I’m Steven Slate, lead author of The Freedom Model for Addictions: Escape the Treatment and Recovery Trap. I’m also a former heroin and cocaine “addict.” After 5 years of getting worse under sham addiction treatment, I finally quit with an educational approach in 2002. I happily abstained from alcohol and other drugs for close to 5 years, and then became a moderate drinker. I do not identify as recovering because I do not believe in the disease of addiction, and I do not continue to struggle to not use substances problematically. I have moved beyond that level of desire, as most people do. I do not consider myself stronger or better than anyone who currently has a substance use problem.

I want everyone who struggles like I did to know that there is no disease of addiction, nor is there anything that forces us to use substances heavily. We feel the need to use heavily only because we see the drugs as having some sort of fantastic powers that we need to function and feel good. When coupled with the view that there is nothing better available to us, heavy use feels like a necessity. The disease model of addiction, and other ideologies of compulsion only take the focus off the fact that we are doing what we want to do, and that we have the power to change. In my book, I argue against those models, and for a realistic view of the powers of substances, so that people may approach this as choice, and be happy to make a change, rather than waging an endless tiring battle (“recovery”) against a bogeyman – the fictitious entity called addiction.

Here are my favorite posts that lay out some important facts and theory on substance use problems:

Latest Blog Posts on Addiction: