Is Abstinence the Best Approach to Reducing Harm?

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"We think that we've got to end the use. That's the primary goal," he says. "But if you don't solve that problem, you're not going to successfully stop the use in the long run." For some people, abstinence will be the best way to produce harm with a specific drug, there is absolutely no about that,. But for others, drugs are just a symptom of something they feel isolated or despairing, or have some kind of mental illness, or any of several things that it could be", she adds.

Maia Szalavitz is an American reporter and New York Times best-selling author who has focused much of her work on the topic of addiction. She has won awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Drug Policy Alliance, the American Psychological Association and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology for her 30 years of groundbreaking writing on addiction, drug policy and neuroscience.

In this episode, Maia and Eric discuss her book, Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction.

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In This Interview, Maia Szalavitz and I Discuss The Case for Harm Reduction and…

Her book: Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction
What “harm reduction” means in the case of addition
The truth behind why we have the drug policies that we currently have
Differentiating between the terms dependence and addiction
The real problem of addiction being the compulsive behavior that’s ruining your life
The role of moderation in substance use in people in recovery
How to know whether or not moderation or abstinence is right for you
The problem with a binary approach to drug use
The harm reduction recovery approach as any positive change
The difficult but crucial role of being a beginner to learn what’s right for you

Maia Szalavitz Links:

Maia’s Website

Twitter

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If you enjoyed this conversation with Maia Szalavitz, you might also enjoy these other episodes:

Maia Szalavitz on a Different Lens of Addiction (2017)

Judson Brewer on Addiction and the Craving Mind

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