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

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

Colleges know their students are drinking, often heavily.

You might say the drug itself may not be that dangerous, except to our patients. 

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.

It’s also not too difficult to create a ‘homemade’ variety using raw ingredients purchased on the dark web and a common pill press.

Patients with severe substance disorders may experience depression as a result of the cumulative effects of their substance use.

If addiction really is a brain disorder based in complex adaptations to a substance, then who’s to say those adaptations won’t occur with a different drug?

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of patients who drop out or otherwise leave maintenance programs return to heroin at rates of 80% or higher.

When he speaks, he reminds me of others I’ve known who come from families that fought and lost a battle with addictive disease.