There is lots of work being done in the AoD sector to understand addiction better.
Dr. Gabor Mate asked it best “not why addiction, but why the pain?” when speaking about people and substance use. Dr. Mate would like to see a focus on what is the cause of substance use rather than the focus being on the substance itself, meaning that we would be looking at addiction in a different light. He speaks broadly about understanding attachment and its role in substance use.
Johann Hari, author of Chasing the Scream- The first and last days of the war on drugs talks to The Huffington Post about changing ourselves to change the war on drugs. He believes that the opposite of addiction is connection and seeks to understand how connection might help someone in overcoming their substance use. You can watch Hari discuss his book and findings in this great ted talk.
Dr. Carl Hart speaks about the misconception that drug addiction is a disease of the brain as well as looking at the adolescent brain and drug use. Hart looks the opinions of those who believe that methamphetamine is a horrible drug but something like Adderall is useful. You can watch Dr Carl Hart talk about his memories here which shows the insight into his work. If you are interested in watching Harts ted talk and finding out about how he got to being an influential voice in our sector, you can find it here.
Ethan Nadelmann founder of the Drug Policy Alliance is working hard to decriminalise drugs. He speaks incredibly and passionately about why we need to end the war on drugs in order to reduce the harm and destruction that it has already caused by the “war”.
We also hear David Nutt explore why drug policy is failing youth of today. David Nutt, former advisor to the Ministry of Defence, Department of Health and the Home Office in the UK, is working hard to get the message that alcohol is equally as dangerous other substance. He is also working hard to get people to understand how substances are currently classified has created many issues with researching substances for their medical benefits.
