No matter where you turn, it’s hard to escape political news these days – who’s up, who’s down … who’s in, who’s out. It can feel like an exciting roller coaster, a drawn-out soap opera or, depending on your mood, a bit of a never-ending nightmare. In the midst of the noise, what should you […]
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You’re gonna miss this You’re gonna want this back You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast These are some good times So take a good look around You may not know it now But you’re gonna miss this Trace Adkins There was a jukebox in my room at the Gaylord Opryland and […]
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First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you. – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Alcohol is a killer hiding in plain sight. While we demonize the use of other drugs, we celebrate with alcohol. It’s part of our weddings and graduations, our birthday parties and bar mitzvahs. […]
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The stories are heartbreaking. Drug treatment in this country has become a $35 billion industry, opening the floodgates for a host of unscrupulous operators who prey on vulnerable individuals and families. With glossy brochures and prepaid plane tickets, so called “body brokers” lure people desperate for help with the promise of spa-like surroundings where they […]
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Asked to write a column for Mental Health Weekly’s Special Preview Issue, it was a chance to connect with Mental Health Weekly’s audience and then to share the piece as my first blog for 2018. But limited by space in both the column and blog forced choices on the focus of content. There are so […]
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This post first ran on Behavioral Healthcare Executive and can be accessed here. Tom Hill, vice president of addiction and recovery for the National Council, always reminds us, “You just have to do the next right thing.” For Tom, the first right thing was telling his own story of addiction and throwing off the yoke […]
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“Different people, in good faith, can look at the same fact and interpret it differently. But that’s where an interesting conversation begins.” Eric Schlosser, author of Reefer Madness No one, it seems, is neutral about marijuana. Perhaps you agree with Kathy, who emailed the National Council to say, “Cannabis (medical marijuana) is saving thousands, if […]
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“Treatment without prevention is simply unsustainable.” — Bill Gates Though the origin of the phrase “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is in doubt, no one who works in behavioral health has reason to question its meaning. As we prepare once again to observe National Prevention Week – May 14–20 […]
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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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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 […]
Read More on A Washington Post Story Raises as Many Questions as It Answers About the Justice System and Addiction View Comments of A Washington Post Story Raises as Many Questions as It Answers About the Justice System and Addiction
