Methadone and employment: some not-so-surprising correlations. On the subject of healthcare in general, here’s an interesting look at inequality in healthcare. We hear a lot about the inequality of the 1% versus the 99%, of course, but we don’t think as much about how the makeup of those percentages can change. An interesting biopsychological theory … Continued
There aren’t enough addiction doctors. This is just one of the many problems that are keeping us as a society from treating addiction as well as we could be, but it’s something we shouldn’t ignore. We talk a lot about the regulatory side of it, but we can’t forget the personnel side. It isn’t just … Continued
We’ve talked a lot on this blog about regulating opiates, and the delicate balance between over- and under-prescribing of addictive medications. In general, I am fully in agreement with government efforts to step up controls on addictive drugs, and I think that physicians who are blatantly violating rules and common sense standards of prescribing should … Continued
In marijuana news this week, Dutch legislation might change the way tourist look at Amsterdam; and there’s some speculation on what a legal pot market might look like closer to home. Also commenting on the home drug market, this article gives a chilling look at how prescription drug cost is making Americans play dangerous games … Continued
Over in the UK, addiction is becoming more a recognized problem among the older population. Addiction is, and always has been, a problem at all levels of society and in all places. All perceptions of addiction that limit it to a “certain kind of people” are preventing us from reaching and helping people with this … Continued
With election season in full swing, we all have a lot of choices to make about how we would like this country to be run. Of course these decisions are always incredibly complex and nuanced, and seem much too large for any one person to understand. Questions of the economy, foreign policy, and military campaigns … Continued
A small study indicates that the shape of alcohol glasses might affect how fast we drink. An interesting way in which drinking behaviors are so much more complicated than we normally think. Also a reminder that, though science may just be investigating it now, those with an economic interest in drunkenness have known these little … Continued
One of the things that we take for granted as a foundation of addiction medicine is the idea of chronic disease management. This idea is actually kind of strange when we examine it; it’s the insistence that a problem can be managed but never resolved. It shifts the entire focus of care from a single … Continued
Firstly, it’s been far too long since we had a post from Faces of Addiction. Secondly, a writer over at Psychology Today points out that lots and lots of people do drugs, and have forever, and probably will forever. Often they do it to great wealth and acclaim. No argument or policy can be complete … Continued
In a few of my recent posts, I’ve briefly mentioned the problem of good and bad information. For instance, there has been a great deal of paranoia and worry about the Internet in the last few decades. Thousands of studies have been conducted, and news reports delivered, about how we are being changed — and … Continued