Author: GuidaBrown

  • Stigma Reduction or Style Over Substance?

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    GuidaBrown
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    The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which, just for the record, is now considered stigmatizing language due to the use of the word “abuse,” says that “stigma may stem from antiquated and inaccurate beliefs that addiction is a moral failing.” (NIDA nidamed) In 2020, the National Institute of Health reported in “The stigma of mental…

  • Bias Against Babies

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    GuidaBrown
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    Bias is defined as “prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.” This topic comes up often regarding testing pregnant patients for misuse of drugs. For example, in April 2023, JAMA reported that “Black patients, regardless of history of substance use,…

  • Whose Safety Is Being Secured?

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    GuidaBrown
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    Recent headlines have shown wide-ranging ideas about what should happen when those with substance use disorders (SUD) have babies born with unprescribed drugs, including alcohol, in their systems.   The American Medical Association cautions “Don’t criminalize pregnant patients with substance use disorders,” and it seems that Ohio has taken that advice to heart, given this inflammatory…

  • Legal ≠ Harmless

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    GuidaBrown
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    Somehow along the way, we’ve made a distinction between “hard” drugs and, well, other drugs, as though only “hard” drugs cause problems. We’ve forgotten that those other, less “hard” drugs are also dangerous. We’ve also stopped thinking of alcohol as a drug at all, despite it being one of the most abused and dangerous drugs…

  • The “Addictive Personality” Misnomer

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    GuidaBrown
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    I’m often asked if there’s an addictive personality…as though people with substance use disorders (SUDs) can be identified through that one trait, but there’s not. There are, however, common personality traits that those with SUDs tend to have.   See if you recognize anyone in these traits: impulsivity, disinhibition, manipulative tendencies, a lack of accountability, a…

  • Testing for Truth

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    GuidaBrown
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    A recent edition of the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse reports that of the 1,300+ children, aged 9 to 13, surveyed, 9% more tested positive using hair testing for substance use than the 10% who self-reported use. Wait, now…  The report indicates that 5% of 8th graders — children aged 13-14 — are reporting cannabis use…

  • Where’s the Rx?

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    GuidaBrown
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    Over the last few days I’ve been confronted – again – with the realization that far too many people don’t believe addiction is a disease, no matter what they actually say about it. First, the municipality where I live, one where no cannabis use is legal, decided to drop the first possession ticket to a…

  • Our Next New Drug Crisis

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    GuidaBrown
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    Ketamine has a long and storied history. Developed in the early 1960s as an anesthesia, it was deemed too dangerous for people due to its “intense, prolonged emergence delirium that ultimately made it undesirable for human use.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5126726/ More studies; more testing; and the end result — well, maybe not the END result, but the…

  • The Truth About Cannabis

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    GuidaBrown
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    My sister K. and I used to think that guys from our days in high school could attribute any significant hair loss they’d suffered over the years to their use of THC while in high school and beyond. There’s not yet a strong correlation or body of evidence, but who knows…maybe we’re on to something.…

  • Death by Degrees?

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    GuidaBrown
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    “Harm reduction” has been defined myriad ways. The “Godfather of Harm Reduction,” Dan Bigg, referred to it as “the principle of reducing the negative consequences associated with drug use.” The organization he co-founded, the Chicago Recovery Alliance (CRA), uses the phrase “any positive change.” (https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/insight/news/any-positive-change/) The National Harm Reduction Coalition says that “harm reduction is a…