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Talking to NIDA about addiction research- Nicotine, cocaine, treatment matching and more
It’s not everyday that I get an invite to speak with NIDA‘s director, Dr. Nora Volkow, and so, even though it required my creative use of some VOIP technology from a living room in Tel-Aviv, I logged onto a conference call led by the leading addiction researcher. When my colleagues, Dirk Hanson and Elizabeth Hartney,…
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Creating a better system of addiction treatment: Matching rehabs to patients
I can’t hide it any longer, I just have to confess: I hate the way addiction treatment is managed nowadays. With over 25 million people meeting criteria for addictions in the U.S., only 10% are seeking treatment on a yearly basis. Sure, part of the problem is that others just don’t want it, at least…
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Everyone is talking about Tiger: Is it sex addiction or not?
Okay, I feel like I have to say something what with all the noise and hoopla going on. For the past few weeks even my friends have been coming up with questions, asking if Tiger was really in sex rehab. He was , I’ve got inside sources and even without those, he’d have done it…
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Dr. Drew Pinsky – America’s addiction guru in the NY Times
An article in today’s NY Times magazine section discusses the world according to Dr. Drew. Being an addiction specialist myself, I obviously couldn’t resist devouring it, even though I’m in Belgium at the moment. Dr. Drew the good and bad The article was a wonderfully written piece that dealt with much of the irony in…
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Steven Tyler deals with pain killer addiction by checking into rehab
After the recent death of Michael Jackson, and possibly Brittany Murphy, due to prescription drug overdoses, Steven Tyler, the lead singer of the mega-band Aerosmith, has checked himself into rehab for pain-killer addiction. Many pain killers commonly used are opiates (which are very similar to heroin), and many chronic-pain sufferers resolve to taking such drugs…
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Criminal health care – Why we should care.
For most people, the discussion of health care within the prison system is a philosophical one. Not for me. Inmate health care is a disgrace While in jail, I got to see the conditions firsthand. I saw the guy coughing his lungs out for days asking deputies to send him to the infirmary only to…
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One is too many, a thousand not enough: Does a slip or relapse mean the end?
Breaking news: When alcoholics who have gone through treatment have a drink after a certain length of sobriety, most don’t go off the deep end. Slip scares and abstinence relapse The old AA adage: “One drink is too many, and a thousand not enough,” refers to the fact that alcoholics who are sober are assumed…