Tag: drug test
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How Drug Testing Can Uncover Hidden Addictions
I’ve written several times about the Marty Mann Test for Addiction, and I’m a firm believer that it works. (You can find a link in the references below.) But how do we get people to try it? And, when they won’t, how do they realize that they really do have addiction? I had a colleague…
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Embracing Moderation: A Path to Healthier Lifestyles
“We are a society of ‘If one piece of cake is good, two are better.’” A judge in Kenosha County (Wisconsin) made this statement to me…and she’s absolutely correct. We know that we shouldn’t actually eat two pieces of cake in one sitting, but we want to, and society says that’s better. Just like everything…
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How the Let Them Theory Helps in Addiction Recovery
The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins is all the rage these days, and I jumped on the bandwagon. It’s a book that would have been a great article, but it provides two solid takeaways when it comes to the field of addiction: “People only change when they feel like changing.” “People need to feel…
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Understanding Testing Treatment Options for Addiction
I recently spent some time at Mayo Clinic. If you’re from the Midwest, this needs no explanation. For those of you who aren’t from the Midwest, I actually don’t know how to explain it well because it is surreal. I grew up knowing that Mayo is where you go when you’re really sick. When I…
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Screening Pregnant Women for Substance Use: Key Insights
“You don’t want to go on a date with me, do you?” There’s no good way to answer this question. If I do want to go on a date, I’m actually disagreeing with the person asking me. If I don’t, well, you know…saying “You’re correct. I don’t,” is hard. I refer to this as the…
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Understanding Addiction: Insights from Dr. DuPont
Robert DuPont, MD, was the first director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, appointed in 1973, and he spent his career addressing substance use disorders. I first became acquainted with him while watching The Anonymous People, a feature documentary film produced in 2013 about the 23.5 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol…
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Prenatal Substance Exposure: A Neglected Health Crisis
Urine drug tests can be done for every patient in every hospital…but they aren’t. And that lack of testing everyone who is hospitalized could be considered discriminatory, especially when the group of patients all being tested, under the guise of not discriminating, is pregnant people, as if pregnant people are the only ones who may…
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When Medication Becomes a Hammer
I learned something new today…sort of. In part, CAPTA, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, “provides federal funding and guidance to States in support of prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities and also provides grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations, including Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, for demonstration programs and projects” (childwelfare…
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PEth Screening: Essential Tool for Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Recognition
Look! The Finnish results are in, and it is clear that asking about alcohol consumption during pregnancy doesn’t yield accurate results. In fact, of the 3,000 samples tested, positive Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) results during pregnancy were 8.4% or 253 individuals, despite self-reporting alcohol consumption being as low as 1.9% in 2020 but as high as 14% in 2017.…
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Racial Disparities in Newborn Drug Testing and Prenatal Care
What would a pregnant person on the verge of delivering a baby say if she were asked if she has a history of drug abuse within the last 12-18 months? How about if she’s asked about her history of child abuse, neglect, or court-ordered placements of children outside the home? History of domestic abuse or…
Guided by Guida 