The Misguided Obsession with Heroin / Opiate Maintenance Drugs (Suboxone, Subutex, Buprenorphine, Methadone)

Two fairly recent stories discussing Suboxone / Buprenorphine have me shaking my head. In one, a pregnant woman who had already quit using opiates was punished for refusing to take Suboxone. In another, it is claimed that Glee actor Cory Monteith wouldn’t have died from overdose, if only he had been prescribed some sort of… Continue reading The Misguided Obsession with Heroin / Opiate Maintenance Drugs (Suboxone, Subutex, Buprenorphine, Methadone)

New Prescription Drug Laws Are Either The Worst Or Best Thing Ever!

The drug war is so futile, so destructive, and so depressing at this point that it’s almost not even worth discussing. It’s a whole lot of senseless insanity as I see it, and nobody involved seems to have their wits about them.  For example, how could anyone reconcile these 2 recent news items about prescription… Continue reading New Prescription Drug Laws Are Either The Worst Or Best Thing Ever!

What Impulse? Dissenting Opinions On The Latest “Smoking Gun” In The Disease Debate

The latest addiction research is focused on the wrong thing – impulse control – the art of changing an addiction is not a process resisting impulses, it’s a process of doing away with such impulses.

Surviving Straight Inc, a Controlling Approach To Addiction Treatment Brings Disastrous Consequences

Straight Inc is one horrific example of what a controlling approach to rehabilitation results in: physical and psychological abuse. A new documentary uses survivor stories to bring you into the world of Straight Inc. Explore the “control model” approach to addiction treatment. We contrast the effects of a control model approach and efforts at self-change through personal stories of a Straight Inc victim and his younger sister.

Martin Seligman on Prospection: Being Motivated by our Vision of The Future

Should you focus on the past and feel as if you’re doomed to repeat it, and that you’ve created immutable character defects, or have changed into a permanently diseased addict or alcoholic doomed to relapse? Should you beware of your disease, avoid overconfidence/arrogance and simply take things “one day at a time”? Maybe it’s better to believe that you can change permanently, and to envision a better future for yourself. Maybe it’s better to simply think about those things that would make you happier than a cheap high and to work towards those things. That’s what I think anyways, and I think Martin Seligman would agree.

Portugal’s Drug Decriminalization Seems To Be Working

A new study examines the state of addiction in Portugal, and whether their massive decriminalization of drugs in 2001 has helped or hurt.  Maia Szalavitz (one of the best reporters covering addiction news) examines the study in her latest article for Time Magazine which you can read at this link.  Here’s an excerpt: For example,… Continue reading Portugal’s Drug Decriminalization Seems To Be Working