From etiology to stigma to treatment and trafficking — The lovely brightly colored poppy flower, known by Sumerians as the flower of joy, is the source of a tragic opioid addiction epidemic in the United States. To a great degree, this jarring reality is an outcome of prevailing neoliberal economic policies and the overriding supremacy of the profit margin. …

It’s where I have my greatest regrets and my greatest triumph — “I remember awakening one morning and finding everything smeared with the color of forgotten love.” ~ Charles Bukowski My childhood equipped me for subjugation, not love. As Bukowski’s words suggest, my world was sullied by love forgotten, love betrayed and love denied. Incessant abuse and neglect created a broken young…

Pre-requisites to deep diving into systemic memories of abuse — It was 1990 in Brooklyn, N.Y. when I was hired as a treatment coordinator at a facility for adolescent and adult drug addicts. The crack epidemic was ravaging communities on a national scale and AIDS was a global health crisis. I had just completed post-graduate work at Coney Island Hospital…

Not clean needles and supervised consumption — Addiction is a disease of mind, body, and spirit. Addicts in New York City have been failed by the de Blasio administration. His harm reduction model, devoid of comprehensive care constitutes enabling. As the frequency and amount of drug and alcohol use increases, blackouts, rapid weight loss, poor hygiene, and…

Examining the psychological underpinnings — The workaholic with her work or the alcoholic with his booze are having a love affair. Each alters mood to avoid the feeling of loneliness and hurt in the underbelly of shame ~ John Bradshaw According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the opioid epidemic has reached a…

What happens when currency devolves into an obsessive fix — We can all appreciate the complexity of the legal tender. Technically a form of exchange for goods and services, money assists with establishing a comfortable quality of life. It signifies security, connotes one’s place in the world, renders status and even enhances one’s sense of power. On the downside however…