What Stephen Colbert got wrong about the opioid crisis.

It’s funny how the same old hysterical drug myths refuse to die. Back in 1992 former editor of the Journal Addiction Research & Theory John Booth Davies described the persistent tale of pushers and helpless addicts: “At the present moment, the standard line taken by a majority of people in the media, in treatment agencies,… Continue reading What Stephen Colbert got wrong about the opioid crisis.

How many people recover from heroin / opioid addiction?

They say recovery from opioid addiction is impossible, but it’s not. 96% of people have gotten over their opioid addictions historically. Most people would have you believe that nobody ever gets over an opioid addiction. In fact, some of the nation’s most influential authorities on addiction are now saying that anyone who’s ever had an… Continue reading How many people recover from heroin / opioid addiction?

Your heroin / prescription opioid addict origin story is holding you back. Let it go.

I was at my hometown bus station a few nights ago, in Springfield Massachusetts – the town where I spent the bulk of my time as a heroin “addict.” A young girl – let’s call her Jennifer – started chatting me up, and although she was well put together, I could tell from the look… Continue reading Your heroin / prescription opioid addict origin story is holding you back. Let it go.

Essential Reading List for the Truth about Addiction, Alcohol, and other Drugs

The hysteria and myths about alcohol, other drugs, and addiction runs deep in American culture – and I believe it is causing us to have more problems with alcohol and other drugs. The more people learn the truth, the more we can create a cultural shift that decreases these problems. The following is my study… Continue reading Essential Reading List for the Truth about Addiction, Alcohol, and other Drugs

Harvard Addiction Science Professor Admits Treatment is a Form of Coercion

Julie Eldred is a heroin user who violated probation by testing positive for an opioid. She’s contesting the probation violation ruling all the way up to Massachusetts’ State Supreme Court on the grounds that relapse is a symptom of the disease of addiction, and it’s therefore a cruel and unusual punishment to put her in… Continue reading Harvard Addiction Science Professor Admits Treatment is a Form of Coercion

Steven Slate’s TEDx Talk Tahoe City

Addiction treatment, and our entire approach to “addiction” doesn’t help, and it doesn’t “cure addicts”, it only creates more of the symptoms of “addiction” – hopelessness and a sense of powerlessness to change and make different choices. This what I chose to demonstrate when I got the chance to give a TED Talk on addiction.… Continue reading Steven Slate’s TEDx Talk Tahoe City

Deflection in the addiction treatment industry over ethics

Source: CASA

Addiction treatment workers complain about unethical behavior in the addiction treatment industry, in a recent New York Times article titled “How Staten Island’s Drug Problem Made It a Target for Poaching Patients.” Their target is rehab recruiters who offer backdoor referral payments for patients with private insurance. This is against the law in some states, but… Continue reading Deflection in the addiction treatment industry over ethics

NPR accidentally reveals the disgusting truth about the disease model of addiction

“But then, the more I think about it [getting off the drugs], it scares the hell out of me,” he says. “I’m scared of going backward. I honestly don’t know what would happen.”

That’s a fear voiced by many of the growing number of Americans who have come to see their addiction as a chronic disease, a condition they may have to live with — and need treatment for — for many years.

21 Things Obama and Macklemore got wrong about addiction

I almost died of a misinformation overdose watching President Obama and rapper Macklemore talk about addiction yesterday. Luckily though, I had some Narcan-for-myths handy: the knowledge I gained from studying drugs and addiction for over a decade now. President Obama’s Weekly Address was filled with misinformation. I counted 21 false statements in all. In fact the myths only… Continue reading 21 Things Obama and Macklemore got wrong about addiction