Maia Szalavitz is a columnist for Substance.com and one of the nation’s leading neuroscience and addiction journalists. She blogs for Healthland.com, and has contributed to Time, The New York Times, Scientific American Mind, The Washington Post and many other publications. She has also published three books, including Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids (Riverhead, 2006).
We're winning: More progress has been made toward enlightened drug policies and treatment in the past five years than in the previous 25. Here's an advocacy agenda to take us even closer to the future we need.... Read More
The idea that addiction is typically a chronic, progressive disease that requires treatment is false, the evidence shows. Yet the "aging out" experience of the majority is ignored by treatment providers and journalists.... Read More
Too often, Americans with painful medical conditions who misuse pain pills like Oxycontin are denied further treatment and even prosecuted. There are more effective, enlightened responses—as the UK has shown for decades.... Read More
On December 17, 1914, Congress passed the Harrison Act, making nonmedical opium and cocaine illegal. It was really about punishment, not public health. And it set the tone for a disastrous century.... Read More
For the paper of record, addiction is always about this drug or that drug rather than the real causes. This week, the Gray Lady gives us a white housewife, seduced by heroin.... Read More
Journalist Mike Power broke the story of the drug revolution that the rest of the media largely ignores—he even created a drug of his own to prove it. He tells us how legal highs and the Internet are transforming use and challenging policy.... Read More
Last week's midterm elections prove that support for legalizing weed continues to grow. But progress has been rolled back before—it's important to remember how we got here if we're to keep moving forward.... Read More
It's empowering to say publicly that you are in recovery from addiction. But for some, recovery is a members-only club for people who are totally abstinent. That leaves most of us out in the cold.... Read More
AA and the rest remain the biggest and most polarizing force in the addiction community. I quit heroin and cocaine using the Steps and have covered addiction as a journalist for 25 years—and I'd argue that the picture is decidedly mixed.... Read More
Colorado is displaying human-sized "lab rat cages" in an effort to warn teens off marijuana. Like most such attempts, it's a waste of money. ... Read More
The FDA's decision to factor in the "pleasure measure" when weighing new cigarette regulations has sparked controversy. But drugs often make us feel great—and this is relevant to how we regulate them.... Read More
Addiction treatment routinely fails people with mental illnesses, while mental health care often ignores addiction. And everywhere, stigma is rife. Can a tragic death prompt a more intelligent approach?... Read More
Addiction is not about our brains being "hijacked" by drugs or experiences—it's about learned patterns of behavior. Our inability to understand this leads to no end of absurdities.
... Read More
Whether it's our drug use, our laws, or the treatment options we have on offer, the US frequently stands out. And that's not always something to celebrate.... Read More
Revelations that white, middle-class people are—now! suddenly! for the first time!—using heroin stem from the pernicious lie that "typical" users are black. ... Read More
A Minnesota high school student overdosed on a synthetic drug she got from some fellow teens. The prosecutor is charging them as adults—with third-degree murder—in order to "send a message." That's the wrong one. ... Read More
Treatment for teens with drug problems can be stigmatizing and punitive. Advocates say that recovery high schools offer a kinder, less dogmatic and more effective alternative. Substance.com investigates.... Read More
Drug panics have consequences. A century after The New York Times ran headlines about "Negro Cocaine Fiends," journalists have learned far less than you'd think. ... Read More
Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab sidekick now has his own treatment program and blog, which he's using to dispense a dangerous brand of intolerance.... Read More
By singling out addiction with their demands for research bans, activists win support from a public that still views being addicted as a moral failing. They also expose a great divide between addiction scientists.... Read More
There is clear evidence that the phrases "substance abuse" and "substance abuser" harm, as well as disparage, people with addiction. It's time to ditch these terms.... Read More
With the advent of marijuana legalization, alternatives to incarceration, harm reduction as treatment and other rational approaches to addiction, 2014 could be an unprecedented turning point.... Read More
We're winning: More progress has been made toward enlightened drug policies and treatment in the past five years than in the previous 25. Here's an advocacy agenda to take us even closer to the future we need.... Read More
The idea that addiction is typically a chronic, progressive disease that requires treatment is false, the evidence shows. Yet the "aging out" experience of the majority is ignored by treatment providers and journalists.... Read More
Too often, Americans with painful medical conditions who misuse pain pills like Oxycontin are denied further treatment and even prosecuted. There are more effective, enlightened responses—as the UK has shown for decades.... Read More
On December 17, 1914, Congress passed the Harrison Act, making nonmedical opium and cocaine illegal. It was really about punishment, not public health. And it set the tone for a disastrous century.... Read More
For the paper of record, addiction is always about this drug or that drug rather than the real causes. This week, the Gray Lady gives us a white housewife, seduced by heroin.... Read More
Journalist Mike Power broke the story of the drug revolution that the rest of the media largely ignores—he even created a drug of his own to prove it. He tells us how legal highs and the Internet are transforming use and challenging policy.... Read More
Last week's midterm elections prove that support for legalizing weed continues to grow. But progress has been rolled back before—it's important to remember how we got here if we're to keep moving forward.... Read More
It's empowering to say publicly that you are in recovery from addiction. But for some, recovery is a members-only club for people who are totally abstinent. That leaves most of us out in the cold.... Read More
AA and the rest remain the biggest and most polarizing force in the addiction community. I quit heroin and cocaine using the Steps and have covered addiction as a journalist for 25 years—and I'd argue that the picture is decidedly mixed.... Read More
Colorado is displaying human-sized "lab rat cages" in an effort to warn teens off marijuana. Like most such attempts, it's a waste of money. ... Read More
The FDA's decision to factor in the "pleasure measure" when weighing new cigarette regulations has sparked controversy. But drugs often make us feel great—and this is relevant to how we regulate them.... Read More
Addiction treatment routinely fails people with mental illnesses, while mental health care often ignores addiction. And everywhere, stigma is rife. Can a tragic death prompt a more intelligent approach?... Read More
Addiction is not about our brains being "hijacked" by drugs or experiences—it's about learned patterns of behavior. Our inability to understand this leads to no end of absurdities.
... Read More
Whether it's our drug use, our laws, or the treatment options we have on offer, the US frequently stands out. And that's not always something to celebrate.... Read More
Revelations that white, middle-class people are—now! suddenly! for the first time!—using heroin stem from the pernicious lie that "typical" users are black. ... Read More
A Minnesota high school student overdosed on a synthetic drug she got from some fellow teens. The prosecutor is charging them as adults—with third-degree murder—in order to "send a message." That's the wrong one. ... Read More
Treatment for teens with drug problems can be stigmatizing and punitive. Advocates say that recovery high schools offer a kinder, less dogmatic and more effective alternative. Substance.com investigates.... Read More
Drug panics have consequences. A century after The New York Times ran headlines about "Negro Cocaine Fiends," journalists have learned far less than you'd think. ... Read More
Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab sidekick now has his own treatment program and blog, which he's using to dispense a dangerous brand of intolerance.... Read More
By singling out addiction with their demands for research bans, activists win support from a public that still views being addicted as a moral failing. They also expose a great divide between addiction scientists.... Read More
There is clear evidence that the phrases "substance abuse" and "substance abuser" harm, as well as disparage, people with addiction. It's time to ditch these terms.... Read More
With the advent of marijuana legalization, alternatives to incarceration, harm reduction as treatment and other rational approaches to addiction, 2014 could be an unprecedented turning point.... Read More
We're winning: More progress has been made toward enlightened drug policies and treatment in the past five years than in the previous 25. Here's an advocacy agenda to take us even closer to the future we need.... Read More
The idea that addiction is typically a chronic, progressive disease that requires treatment is false, the evidence shows. Yet the "aging out" experience of the majority is ignored by treatment providers and journalists.... Read More
Too often, Americans with painful medical conditions who misuse pain pills like Oxycontin are denied further treatment and even prosecuted. There are more effective, enlightened responses—as the UK has shown for decades.... Read More
