My son is an addict. In recovery now for almost 6 years, but for the 15 before that, he was heavily addicted, lost everything, became homeless, and after countless tries has remained clean for his longest run ever.
An addict will ALWAYS be an addict. It's simply a question of whether they're in recovery, or actively using.
Dr Mark Ujjainwalla's contribution to the article is a ridiculous, simplistic, pollyanna approach to an multi-faceted, deeply layered and nuanced issue. I would guess that his aim is to make money, to drive people into his recovery center for which I would imagine they pay a hefty fee. Rehab Centers are never cheap.
He says "users of illegal drugs need treatment for their conditions rather than easier access to substances. He argues such schemes are in effect ushering users towards death, rather than treating curable conditions."
“If you were a patient addicted to fentanyl [and you came to me], I would say: ‘OK, I will put you in a treatment centre for one to three months, get you off the fentanyl, get you stable, get your life back together and then you’ll be fine.’ Why would I want to give you free heroin and tell you to go to a trailer and inject?"
An addict is never "cured." What utter bull@#$%.
It's EASY (comparatively) to get clean in a treatment center. Ask any addict. There is no access to drugs, their days are rigidly controlled, they're often given other substances to control their cravings, their lives while inside are completely regimented. The REAL work starts when they leave. "Then you'll be fine????" OMG. The guy has no clue.
An addict will get clean when THEY are ready to get clean, and not a moment before. No matter the treatment center, approach, manner in which they enter recovery, it will ONLY happen when they're dedicated to making it happen, and even then it's an incredibly tough row to hoe. After countless treatment/rehab centers, drug court, jail time, halfway houses, counseling etc., all of which kept him clean for days or weeks, my son relapsed. But you know when he finally and hopefully irrevocably embraced his recovery? When he was homeless, living out of his car, having lost everything in the world he'd ever valued...his home, his belongings, his friends, his family, his kids. If an addict does fully embrace their recovery while in a treatment center, then it was because the addict was READY to, and not because of the specific approach of that center. Rehab centers aren't miracle "cures" for addiction. They're just one more stop on the way, either to recovery or death. Because that's the ultimate outcome for an addict. Recovery or death.
Addicts will find their drugs wherever they can get them. And they're often corrupted substances. I can tell you, after having called the paramedics on my son more than once, having dealt with him having a seizure in my driveway while I administered CPR because his heart stopped and praying to a God I didn't believe in that the paramedics would get there in time...let me tell you that I would SO MUCH PREFER he had access to his DOC that I knew was clean and that was dosed in a manner that wouldn't result in an overdose. So many addicts die, not from overdosing on their actual drug of choice but from all the crap that it's cut with, or additions like fentanyl, that poison them.
Sorry....sorry for getting so vehement. But dammit I've LIVED this, for so many years, lived with the wretchedness that is addiction, attended countless group counseling sessions, educational seminars, NARCAN administration workshops, Naranon meetings, CPR classes and any other class or course or meeting that i hoped would help me help my son, and if I couldn't help him get clean then I could at least help him to not die.
And ultimately came to realize that the only person who could help my son was my son himself. And he did. And there isn't a day that i'm not deeply grateful for that, not a day goes by that I tell myself "today, just for today, my son is clean." And i breathe a sign of relief for another day.