Psychedelics May Help Reduce Opioid Addiction, According To New Study

This study also forces us to reflect on why abstinence-only policies can be so harmful and counterproductive.  Contrary to conventional wisdom, federal government data has consistently shown that the vast majority of people who use opioids, including heroin, don’t end up developing an addiction. So our focus should be not just on preventing people from using opioids – after all, they can be essential medical tools – but also ensuring, above all else, that people who use them don’t go on to struggle with addiction. A truly health-centered approach to drug addiction assesses improvement by many measures, not simply by someone’s drug use level, but also by their overall health, their social relationships, and their general well-being.  Determining success by boiling it down to the single measure of abstinence to an arbitrary group of certain drugs isn’t realistic or effective. Addiction is a complex phenomenon, but I think it’s safe to say that it can only be genuinely resolved when people find meaning in their lives.  This study is yet another indication that the meaning people seem to find from psychedelics has considerable implications for our prevailing healthcare and criminal justice paradigms. Jag Davies is the director of communications strategy for the Drug Policy Alliance. This piece first appeared on the Drug Policy Alliance Blog. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is s...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news