The number of Americans who fit the diagnosis for a heroin/opioid addiction (Opioid Use Disorder or OUD) is currently 2 million (most recent data available is from 2018). It has hovered around this number for a long time, with a low of 1.7 million in 2002, and a high of almost 2.4 million in 2015.… Continue reading The Facts: buprenorphine treatment for Opioid Use Disorder is widespread.
Tag: buprenorphine
NPR accidentally reveals the disgusting truth about the disease model of addiction
“But then, the more I think about it [getting off the drugs], it scares the hell out of me,” he says. “I’m scared of going backward. I honestly don’t know what would happen.”
That’s a fear voiced by many of the growing number of Americans who have come to see their addiction as a chronic disease, a condition they may have to live with — and need treatment for — for many years.
The Business of Recovery… and Abandoned Storylines
I had the opportunity to see a screening of The Business of Recovery in NYC last month. Here is my extremely brief review and recommendation, followed by a lengthier criticism. The Business Of Recovery was a high quality production. It covered several topics in ways that we don’t normally see in most mainstream reports about the treatment… Continue reading The Business of Recovery… and Abandoned Storylines
The Misguided Obsession with Heroin / Opiate Maintenance Drugs (Suboxone, Subutex, Buprenorphine, Methadone)
Two fairly recent stories discussing Suboxone / Buprenorphine have me shaking my head. In one, a pregnant woman who had already quit using opiates was punished for refusing to take Suboxone. In another, it is claimed that Glee actor Cory Monteith wouldn’t have died from overdose, if only he had been prescribed some sort of… Continue reading The Misguided Obsession with Heroin / Opiate Maintenance Drugs (Suboxone, Subutex, Buprenorphine, Methadone)
Why Target Pleasure?
“New gene therapy for smoking kills the pleasure of nicotine” – so reads the headline in yesterday’s LA Times. This brings up an issue that remains a huge thorn in the side of the committed disease theorists: substance use is a purpose driven behavior, bottom line. The way people treat you when you publicly say… Continue reading Why Target Pleasure?