There’s a New 12-Step Group: Medication-Assisted Recovery Anonymous Unlike many NA or AA chapters, this group accepts that many people benefit from medications like methadone and buprenorphine. Chairs in a circle for a meeting. It’s like AA, but more open to those taking methadone or other medication to assist in recovery. Photo illustration by Slate.…
A special graduating class got a second chance at life by starting with a clean slate. The graduates are men and women who have experienced some form of alcohol or drug addiction. Joe Vigil, the assistant coordinator of the Lane County Treatment Court, said the program is designed to help them overcome the abuse of…
Buprenorphine is a Schedule III drug with a lower abuse potential than methadone. It is one of three drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to help patients undergoing treatment for opioid abuse. The UT study found that the drug impairs the ability of obese mice to vary their breathing. These findings in…
Scranton police may soon start giving some drug offenders a pass–no charges if they complete treatment for their addiction. It requires people to sign a contract for recovery to avoid a criminal record. The Scranton Police Department received a grant from a health care nonprofit to create the Contract for Recovery program. No such thing…
New Hampshire’s opioid epidemic is indeed terrible, with the state leading the country in per capita fentanyl deaths. And it’s true that without an income tax or a sales tax, state funding has been scarce. But in combating this crisis, we are also victims of a rudderless federal drug policy, exemplified by President Trump’s empty…
Agencies target ‘illegal, unapproved’ products that claim to treat opioid addiction. Federal regulators said Wednesday that they are cracking down on marketers and distributors selling a dozen products that “illegally” claimed to treat or cure opioid addiction and withdrawal. In letters sent earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission…
In an era of many virtual happenings, it’s common to see people resort to online forums or social media platforms whenever any assistance is needed – naturally when there’s a need for financial support, many flock to websites designed specifically for fundraising. Substance use disorder treatment isn’t always affordable; according to the National Institute of…
Anaheim city leaders are trying a new approach to tackling drug addiction — waiting for chronic drug users to walk through the police station doors themselves. While that seems a counterintuitive approach, it isn’t as crazy as it sounds — and could prove to be an important step to changing the way we look at…
When Donald Trump won the presidential election, he made a pledge to every citizen: that he would be president for all Americans. In the weeks before Trump’s inauguration, we’re going to hear about some of the communities that make up this nation, from the people who know them best, in our series Finding America. In…
It’s no secret that the U.S. is in the middle of an opioid epidemic, and disturbing new data shows that drug overdose deaths may get worse before they get better. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released new figures revealing that overdose-related deaths in the U.S. nearly tripled between 1999 and 2014. Opioids,…