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Decriminalization Alone Won’t Fix Addiction – Infrastructure Will: A Comparative Look at Portugal, the Netherlands, and the U.S.
In Chasing the Scream: The Search for the Truth About Addiction, Johan Hari asks, "What if everything you think you know about addiction is wrong?" (Hari, 2015). Hari posits that addiction is driven by isolation more than chemicals. In a widely viewed TED Talk he states, "The opposite of addiction...
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Financial Stability: Building Practical Infrastructure for Reentry
James1 completes a 90-day residential treatment program with a job interview set up for the coming week and a probation meeting he cannot miss. He also leaves with thousands of dollars in outstanding legal financial obligations (LFOs), a suspended driver's license related to unpaid fees, and no...
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The Director Who Was Once the Intake: What Justice-Involved Clients Taught Me From Both Sides of the Desk
I have occupied three chairs in the behavioral health system's relationship with justice-involved people: the client in the residential program with a record behind him, the counselor across the desk, and the director deciding who gets the bed. Most practitioners spend a career in one of those...
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When Tomorrow Cannot Compete: Why Immediate Relief Can Eclipse a Future That Still Matters
Someone can understand the consequences of substance use, love the people their substance use is hurting, and still reach for immediate relief. From the outside, the choice can look like proof that the person does not care enough. From inside the moment, what matters in that later life may no...
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Polysubstance Use Is Rewriting the Rules of Addiction Medicine
Key Takeaways: Fentanyl increasingly contains sedative adulterants like xylazine and medetomidine, plus stimulants, which is complicating standard opioid use disorder treatment protocols. Xylazine's own withdrawal syndrome and its masking of opioid withdrawal signs are pushing providers...
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The Policy Landscape of Overdose Prevention Centers and the Path Forward
Key Takeaways: Overdose Prevention Centers (OPCs) are harm reduction facilities that provide many addiction services including medical supervision for those using pre-obtained drugs OPCs have consistently shown that they dramatically reduce overdose mortality and the spread of communicable...
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When Opioid Narratives Become Policy
For more than a decade, US opioid policy has been guided by a compelling but incomplete story: aggressive pharmaceutical marketing and overprescribing by physicians flooded communities with addictive pills, igniting an epidemic of opioid use disorder (OUD) and death. This narrative drove sweeping...
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Recovery Policies Consistently Fail When They Ignore Human Behavior
Recovery policies don't fail because people don't want to change; they fail because they're designed for an idealized version of patients that simply doesn't exist. Policies are built in committee rooms, around rational decision-making, clear consequences, and personal responsibility. However, the...
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Returning People to Work Starts With Returning Them to Life – I Learned That as a Mother. Mental Health Recovery, Medical Privacy, How to Secure Mental Health Records
Mental health conversations are finally becoming more open in both our personal lives and the workplace. That is a good thing. For far too long, mental health struggles were hidden, misunderstood, or treated separately from overall wellness. As a mother, this subject is deeply personal to...
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Governor Hochul Announces Launch of New 10-Year Statewide Effort to Assess Gambling Addiction and Behaviors in New York State
Decade-long Gambling, Health and Recreational Behaviors Study Includes Surveys and Interviews of New Yorkers Across the State Survey Effort Is One of Governor’s State of the State Initiatives and Will Inform Future Support and Services On April 29, 2026, Governor Kathy Hochul...
