Thinking About Addiction

In an effort to make them sexier, research findings may be misstated or misinterpreted.

It may turn out that chronic pain, like addiction, is one of those conditions that responds best to an approach that’s both individualized and ongoing, and requires considerable commitment on the patient’s part.

Something about this class of drugs appears to turn some scientists into the equivalent of helpless fanboys.

Epidemics do tend to end at some point, but they leave considerable destruction in their wake.

Heroin was a product of the Bayer Company of Germany, marketed as a preferred alternative to morphine– stronger, and thought to be safer

When it comes to drug epidemics, sealing the borders is a limited strategy at best.

A street dealer explained it: “That’s the dope business, man. You got to protect your corner.”

For most Americans, addiction remains a defect of character or self-discipline.

Thus someone who’s on maintenance but seeking one last ‘high’ often looks to fentanyl as a way around the medication. That’s risky in the extreme.

Many physicians don’t want to offer opioid maintenance. They’re happy to refer out, to an addictionologist or psychiatrist with training.