Thinking About Addiction

We can’t predict in advance which user will turn out to be in which category, and frankly, neither can they.

I can’t help seeing that as a moral argument, not a medical one. And not very practical, either.

I thought that blue ribbon commission did a pretty good job with its 60 recommendations, but I haven’t seen much subsequent action, have you?

CDC gives cigarettes credit for more than 480,000 deaths a year, in the US alone.

As a former insurance VP once put it, you spend your day looking at spreadsheets, you forget there are real people out there depending on you.

…those users have fewer resources to pay for healthcare and legal problems that often result from more drinking. So who picks up the tab?

There are plenty of steps we could take, supported by research and common sense, that would produce measurable gains in a relatively short span.

I think most people understand the concept of making amends for past misdeeds.

Addictions are complex. Considering the various risk factors, it’s likely that marijuana will appear to act as a gateway to harder drugs for some users, but not others.

The next big step would be the appearance of cannabis products, edible and perhaps smoked, on the shelves of large chain retailers and pharmacies.