Archive: Addiction

Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

America is worried about the wrong thing. This weekend, Saturday Night Live ran a commercial parody for a fictitious pharmaceutical product, Heroin AM, a product that combines heroin with cocaine and caffeine. The “commercial” depicted three white, middle class, suburban parents using the product to achieve “added productivity” while using heroin. Americans reacted by sending […]

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Linda Rosenberg

President & CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

A recent Washington Post article got me thinking about how our criminal justice system deals with addictions and how even the best of intentions can have unintended consequences. The case the Post sets out is that California voters unknowingly made a bad bargain when they voted to reform the way the courts treat people with […]

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Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

New players in addiction treatment means it’s only going to get more complex.

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Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

    Behavioral health providers hear the call for culturally competent and responsive services. But, there’s another important call to action less discussed — the disparities caused by racism. There is a rising tide of public awareness about the effect of racial bias on public services and the lives of people of color. News stories […]

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Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

Nearly a third of people who use drugs for the first time begin by using a prescription drug non-medically, and data suggests that one in 15 people who take non-medical prescription pain relievers will try heroin within 10 years. In 2014, I wrote about the difficulties policymakers are having coming to terms with the prescription […]

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Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

It’s important when an article cuts through the noise and provokes our thinking. Last month it was a JAMA opinion piece, Bring Back the Asylum. This month, the most recent issue of The Atlantic includes the article, The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of the three authors of Bring Back the Asylum, is […]

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Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

Despite knowing the dangers of smoking and losing my father and grandfather to lung cancer, I smoked for 25 years.  It took me 10 years of trying to finally quit. My husband has been on his journey even longer. Most recently, he began using eCigarettes as his newest weapon in what has been a long, […]

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Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

Why is the National Council and the State Associations of Addiction Services merging? Our post-merger tagline—stronger together—helps answer the question.

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Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

September is National Recovery Month, a time to shine a spotlight on the strides the addiction and mental health communities have taken in the prevention, treatment and recovery-support services for addictions and mental illnesses. But also a time to ask tough questions.

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Linda Rosenberg

Former President and CEO, National Council for Behavioral Health

With such a high level of attention around Naloxone/Narcan, it’s not surprising the conversation has broadened to one about “harm reduction,” a phrase that was once banned by the Bush administration because it was considered tantamount to promoting drug use. Now, however, some once verboten policies are being embraced. What do you think about harm reduction?

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