Treat Addiction as a Disease

[TimG]

The reasons for desiring a high can't possibly be addressed until the individual gets sober. It is the path to sobriety that needs to be addressed and that includes safe injection sites.

Safe injection sites are only reasonable as long as they are a stepping stone to recovery. If they become a means to prolong addictions they should be shut down.

As far as labels, addicts is too derogatory a term.

Every recovering addict I know uses the term. It is appropriate and the addict needs to understand what it means and accept it before they can start their recovery.

[TimG]

Not everyone can afford expensive rehab centres so these community based locations ie needle exchange, are their only grasp at recovery.

AA and NA are free. Meetings are everywhere. In there are several government funded rehab centers and recovery houses. Plenty of addicts get clean without ever setting foot in a treatment center or a rehab facility although medical treatment for detox is often necessary but that can be provided at a hospital. Edited March 30, 2016 by TimG

[WestCoastRunner]

AA and NA are free. Meetings are everywhere. In there are several government funded rehab centers and recovery houses. Plenty of addicts get clean without ever setting foot in a treatment center or a rehab facility although medical treatment for detox is often necessary but that can be provided at a hospital.

AA is no longer the go to treatment for individuals. It is not as highly successful as most would believe.

[WestCoastRunner]

Safe injection sites are only reasonable as long as they are a stepping stone to recovery. If they become a means to prolong addictions they should be shut down.

Every recovering addict I know uses the term. It is appropriate and the addict needs to understand what it means and accept it before they can start their recovery.

You are obviously lacking in knowledge of current treatment plans.

[TimG]

AA is no longer the go to treatment for individuals. It is not as highly successful as most would believe.

Neither are treatment centers (most people relapse after treatment - the main virtue of treatment is keeping people away from drugs from a period of time). The trouble with addiction is it requires a willingness on the part of the addict to do the work. There is no passive treatment that can help. AA is free and if someone is willing to work at the program then it does help. If someone goes in expecting some magic to occur then it will fail. Edited March 30, 2016 by TimG

[WestCoastRunner]

. If someone goes in expecting some magic to occur then it will fail.

I agree with you there.

[TimG]

You are obviously lacking in knowledge of current treatment plans.

ROTFL. No addict will recover unless they accept what they are and come to terms with it. Anyone who is peddling the idea that addicts can or should be coddled is selling snake oil.

[WestCoastRunner]

ROTFL. No addict will recover unless they accept what they are and come to terms with it. Anyone who is peddling the idea that addicts can or should be coddled is selling snake oil.

ROTFL. No individual will think they are worth saving if they are repeatedly labelled as an addict instead of a 'mother' or 'father' or 'spouse' who has a problem with abuse of alcohol or pain killers or meth etc.

[TimG]

No individual will think they are worth saving if they are repeatedly labelled as an addict.

Have you ever attended an AA or NA meeting? You do know that the requirement is everyone introduces themselves as 'My name is X and I am an addict/alcoholic'? The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem and accepting the term addict/alcoholic is the first step in accepting you have a problem. People who reject the term are living in denial and likely to relapse. Edited March 30, 2016 by TimG

[WestCoastRunner]

Have you ever attended an AA or NA meeting? You do know that the requirement is everyone introduces themselves as 'My name is X and I am an addict/alcoholic'? The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem and accepting the term addict/alcoholic is the first step in accepting you have a problem.

Again, this shows your lack of knowledge in progressive treatment plans. No one wants to stand up in a room full of people stating they are an alcoholic. We have progressed beyond those extremes. You need to check out your local health centre treatment facilities. They are embracing treatments such as cognitive behaviour skills etc. It's no longer necessary to stand up in front of a crowd and declare you are an alcoholic etc. There are more positive treatment therapies available.

[TimG]

No one wants to stand up in a room full of people stating they are an alcoholic.

Of course not but making people comfortable is not the point. It is forcing people to come to terms with their problem

They are embracing treatments such as cognitive behaviour skills etc.

AA is cognitive behavior therapy by peers invented before anyone knew what therapy was. That is why it works for people who are willing to do the work. Admitting that you are an 'addict/alcoholic' is a cognitive therapy because you are using your mind to accept that you have a problem and therefore you need to change. Edited March 31, 2016 by TimG

[WestCoastRunner]

Of course not but making people comfortable is not the point. It is forcing people to come to terms with their problem

AA is cognitive behavior therapy by peers invented before anyone knew what therapy was. That is why it works for people who are willing to do the work. Admitting that you are an 'addict/alcoholic' is a cognitive therapy because you are using your mind to accept that you have a problem and therefore you need to change.

I will state that whatever works for the individual whether it is AA, SMART, and/or individual counselling works for me.

[TimG]

I will state that whatever works for the individual whether it is AA, SMART, and/or individual counselling works for me.

Agreed - no need for one size fits all approach to treatment or smears suggesting 'old style' approaches do not continue to be useful for some people.

[Big Guy]

All the previous posts do not contest the fact that what we are doing is not working.

If it is not working then we have to look into another direction - my suggestion is free medication for addicts.

What is yours?

[TimG]

If it is not working then we have to look into another direction - my suggestion is free medication for addicts.

As I said, I disagree with your premise. It is like saying that people are still dying of cancer so we have stop trying to treat people and simply help them kill themselves.

[WestCoastRunner]

As I said, I disagree with your premise. It is like saying that people are still dying of cancer so we have stop trying to treat people and simply help them kill themselves.

Around and around we go. Are you against needle exchange?

BG. Can you elaborate on your free drugs platform?

[TimG]

Around and around we go. Are you against needle exchange?

As I said: I support it as long as it is means to get people into treatment and off drugs. If it gives addicts excuses to avoid treatment then they are causing more harm than good.

[dre]

AA almost always fails because it tries to treat a medical issue as a moral issue or a will power issue.

[dre]

As I said: I support it as long as it is means to get people into treatment and off drugs. If it gives addicts excuses to avoid treatment then they are causing more harm than good.

No it doesn't. In both cases the user keeps using... but if they don't have fresh needles then they can help spread HIV in the community as well.

[WestCoastRunner]

No it doesn't. In both cases the user keeps using... but if they don't have fresh needles then they can help spread HIV in the community as well.

Thank you. I was wondering if I was the only one that got it.

[WestCoastRunner]

AA almost always fails because it tries to treat a medical issue as a moral issue or a will power issue.

It almost always fails but there are individuals that rely on these meetings for no other reason than that these are the only free meetings they can access. SMART meetings aren't available in every town across Canada.

[WestCoastRunner]

As I said: I support it as long as it is means to get people into treatment and off drugs. If it gives addicts excuses to avoid treatment then they are causing more harm than good.

How do you know they are avoiding treatment?

[Big Guy]

Around and around we go. Are you against needle exchange?

BG. Can you elaborate on your free drugs platform?

I suggest that our approach is not working. Working people who become addicted and cannot afford to pay illegal drug prices soon lose their jobs and turn to crime in order to satisfy their habit. That becomes a downward spiral where families break up, we pay to incarcerate these people, some get diseases associated with sharing needles and our society suffers. Yes, a few users are "cured" (many only temporarily) but most go back to the habit.

What we are doing is not working and neither TimG nor anyone else has given ideas of how to deal with this scourge.

My suggestion is that anyone who considers themselves an addict be able to approach a physician experienced in that field. That physician would recommend a possible plan for rehabilitation ( some types of rehab will kill the addict) . If/when that approach has not worked for that individual then the addict goes on to a free drug program (Methadone or Heroin) where they can get enough of the drug to function. That medical program to be treated in the same manner as Diabetes, Lupus etc where periodic visits are required with the physician ordering refills where required.

My suggestion is to place people addicted to opiates on permanent opiate prescription for the rest of their lives.

The cost of medical opiates is minuscule compared to street price. Meanwhile the process cuts out the illegal drug dealer and the long line of profit makers as the drug travels from Afghanistan to Toronto.

Meanwhile the addict can function in our society and be a benefit and not a drain to society.

[WestCoastRunner]

I suggest that our approach is not working. Working people who become addicted and cannot afford to pay illegal drug prices soon lose their jobs and turn to crime in order to satisfy their habit. That becomes a downward spiral where families break up, we pay to incarcerate these people, some get diseases associated with sharing needles and our society suffers. Yes, a few users are "cured" (many only temporarily) but most go back to the habit.

What we are doing is not working and neither TimG nor anyone else has given ideas of how to deal with this scourge.

My suggestion is that anyone who considers themselves an addict be able to approach a physician experienced in that field. That physician would recommend a possible plan for rehabilitation ( some types of rehab will kill the addict) . If/when that approach has not worked for that individual then the addict goes on to a free drug program (Methadone or Heroin) where they can get enough of the drug to function. That medical program to be treated in the same manner as Diabetes, Lupus etc where periodic visits are required with the physician ordering refills where required.

My suggestion is to place people addicted to opiates on permanent opiate prescription for the rest of their lives.

The cost of medical opiates is minuscule compared to street price. Meanwhile the process cuts out the illegal drug dealer and the long line of profit makers as the drug travels from Afghanistan to Toronto.

Meanwhile the addict can function in our society and be a benefit and not a drain to society.

Part of the problem is people referring to them as addicts which further stigmatizes them. We need to as a society work together to allow them to reach out to resources in a respectable and humane way. They are our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, etc. They aren't addicts. They are first of all humans.

[Big Guy]

Part of the problem is people referring to them as addicts which further stigmatizes them. We need to as a society work together to allow them to reach out to resources in a respectable and humane way. They are our mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, etc. They aren't addicts. They are first of all humans.

I disagree. They have a disease that is very different from all others. Like mental illness, there is no need to disguise it or make excuses for it. The first step for any addict to seek help is to accept the fact that they are addicts and need help. They are members of our society and deserve all of the same resources and assistance as do all other who suffer from a disease.