Author of The Painful Truth
The television hit show, Breaking Bad, lionized the idea of making and selling meth. A high school teacher who was dying of lung cancer wanted to leave his family enough funds to live, and he chose drug dealing as a way to achieve his goal. The show ran during the 2008-2013 TV seasons and was regarded by some as the greatest television show of all time.
In a WBUR CommonHealth article, “How I Was Seduced By Cigarettes, And What Set Me Free,” David C. Holzman bravely recalled his struggle with the addiction of nicotine. He was honest enough to describe the stressors in his life that made him vulnerable to the addiction and the changes of fortune that helped him to recover.
Holzman’s article can help dispel some common myths about addiction.
As the American Psychiatric Association says, “Addiction is a complex condition, a brain disease that is manifested by compulsive substance use despite harmful consequence.” That is correct, but many people define addiction incorrectly.
In the February 19, 2018 Refinery29 documentary, producer Jacki Huntington shares the stories of Dr. Lipi Roy, Kassandra Frederique of the Drug Policy Alliance, and Cortney Lovell. These women are working to solve the opioid crisis through their work in addiction medicine, drug policy, and recovery services.
In an accompanying essay, Cortney Lovell courageously tells her story of trying to escape the grip of addiction. Lovell has been in recovery for heroin addiction for ten years, and she understands the tremendous effort and frustration that goes into reentering society while bearing the stigma of addiction and a record of incarceration.
“Babies Born Addicted,” “Addicted Babies,” “Babies with Addiction,” and similar headlines appear nearly daily in the media. This is because babies exhibit horrible withdrawal symptoms if they are born physically dependent on opioids, and it pulls at our heartstrings to see them suffer. But it misleads media consumers, policymakers, and family members into believing the newborns are addicted. They confuse signs of withdrawal with opioid addiction.
A study by the Center on Young Adult Health and Development, University of Maryland School of Public Health, Department of Behavioral and Community Health, found a correlation between energy drink consumption and subsequent drug use during young adulthood.
Published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the research showed, “The typical pattern of ED [Energy Drink] consumption among this sample was sustained use throughout young adulthood. Such individuals appear to be at high risk for adverse substance use outcomes, and results suggest possible specificity regarding cocaine use and NPS [nonmedical use of prescription stimulants}, and AUD [alcohol use disorder] risk.”
“Abuse of opioid painkillers and heroin has been spreading throughout the U.S. population, from inner-city youths, jobless rural residents and high school students to wealthy suburbanites, young professionals and pop stars,” according to Peter Katel‘s recent CQ article, “Opioid Crisis: Can recent reforms curb the epidemic?” He continues, “More adults use prescription painkillers than cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or cigars combined, according to a federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report released in September.”
“Ninety percent of all drug addictions start in the teens — and 75 percent of prescription opioid misuse begins when (mainly young) people get pills from friends, family or dealers — not doctors. Opioids are rarely the first drug people misuse.”
This is an incredibly important idea, and I want to credit Maia Szalavitz for having the courage to state it in her recently published article, “What Science Says to Do If Your Loved One Has an Opioid Addiction.” (As an aside: Szalavitz is the author of the recently published book, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, which I hope you’ll consider adding to your reading list.)
When I saw NPR’s headline, Investors See Big Opportunities In Opioid Addiction Treatment, I wasn’t sure whether I should feel angry or simply disbelieving. Are investors really earning money on the backs of people suffering from addiction?
So many of us see addiction as a thief who steals our ability to think and function — and maybe even to live. Is it really possible there are people who see addiction as a major business opportunity?
According to “All Things Considered,” the answer is yes. Investors are buying up addiction treatment centers as hot commodities.
You’ve probably heard by now that a medical examiner has determined Prince, the musical superstar, died of a fentanyl overdose.
While other opioids get more attention, fentanyl is the stealth bomb for abusers.
Fentanyl is 100 times more dangerous than morphine. The dose at which fentanyl produces the pain relief that users require, and the euphoria that drug abusers seek, occurs quickly and at low doses.
However, the dose required to stop a person’s breathing is only a little bit more than the amount users need to get relief from their pain or to get high.
Patrick Clarke, of Rockville, is correct in his letter to the Washington Post‘s editor.
Heroin is not the same thing as prescription opioids.
There’s a huge difference. I’m not talking only about the pharmacology. I’m talking about the reasons why people use heroin and prescription opioids.
Heroin is most commonly used to treat mental pain, while prescription opioids are intended to treat physical pain.
Yes, there are people who use heroin for physical pain. But they are not doing so under any medical supervision, and many heroin users usually can sustain that use only for short periods of time. Then, ultimately, they overdose and die.