The current model of addiction treatment works for some users who are desperate to change their lives. It also fails many of those most in need, for a variety of reasons. Whether the problems are a stubborn insistence on criminalizing drug use and prosecuting the unwell, profit-motivated providers promising the moon and delivering underwhelming treatments, or unscrupulous treatment centers exploiting their clients and playing a shell game with insurance companies, the rehab industry is plagued by a host of problems in countries around the globe. As the COVID-19 pandemic pushes health-care systems to the breaking point and exposes the addicted to horrifying risks, the time has finally come for societies to examine their current drug treatment models, and find solutions that work efficiently for those suffering from the affliction, and for health care systems groaning under the weight of the virus.
Harm Reduction Is A Must
We are extremely proud to operate in Portugal, a nation with the wisdom and compassion to end the fruitless “war on drugs” and adopt a clear-eyed and compassionate approach to drug use. Portugal’s decision to wholeheartedly embrace the principles of harm reduction, decriminalize all personal drug use, and treat addicts as human beings suffering from a severe health disorder rather than dangerous criminals was certainly the right one, a fact that is continually reinforced as nations around the globe follow suit.
Harm Reduction has been proven not only to benefit addicts’ physical and mental health, and reduce the dangerous stigma surrounding addiction, but it also can save the public sector vast sums of money. By providing services such as needle exchanges and safe injection sites, governments can dramatically reduce the spread of disease and incidences of overdose, drastically reducing the financial burden which opioid and opiate use place on an overtaxed health-care sector. A refusal to embrace policies that save both taxpayer money and the lives of society’s most vulnerable members is both financially misguided and morally indefensible.
It’s Time To Modernize Our Understanding Of Addiction
The traditional narrative of addiction, where a weak person becomes enslaved by a “demon drug” has been eroded throughout the years as we gain more understanding of the psychological and neurological changes that occur within the addicted mind. The outdated notion of a thrill-seeking young person experimenting with a gateway drug and almost instantly getting hooked on heroin seems laughable now, but even as we’ve come to learn how deeply flawed this idea is, we are clinging to treatment modalities based on its cartoonishly simplified view of the affliction.
Thinkers like Gabor Mate, Johann Hari, and Maia Szalavitz have assembled vast quantities of research on what addiction is, and what it is not. They argue for a more complex method of treatment than traditional models such as the 12 Steps, or “cold turkey” would advocate, and for more research into treatments that are being neglected by the mainstream. The mechanisms of addiction are shaped by trauma and rooted in neurological processes that must be understood to be corrected. While there may be addicts out there who can (and do) turn their lives around through sheer force of will, the fact that a UN Report from 2019 estimated that the global total of deaths caused by drug use in 2017 was 585,000 is proof enough that much more needs to be done.
One of the most substantial hurdles that needs to be overcome is a prejudicial attitude towards alternative treatments and psychoactive substances that have shown immense promise in treating addiction. Ibogaine has shown a remarkable capacity for rewiring the addicted brain, correcting chemical and hormonal changes that create destructive patterns of behavior, and for allowing addicts to open their minds to the changes in attitude and lifestyle that they desperately need to make. Yet governments have been dragging their feet over pursuing the clinical trials that would clear it for therapeutic use in most countries.
Similar successes can be claimed by other medicinal plants that have been used since ancient times, including ayahuasca, a psychoactive plant from South America that D. Gabor Mate describes as “an antidote to Western psychological distress and alienation.” Psilocybin has also shown promise in treating addiction to nicotine and alcohol, as well as many of the underlying psychological issues that can lead to addiction. While research on the medicinal properties of these plants is slowly moving forward, any delays in the process will put the lives of habitual drug users at risk.
Moving Away From Profit-Driven Models
The economic ramifications of COVID-19 are going to be absolutely massive, and restrictions on domestic and international travel are a massive hurdle for many treatment centers. While this will have a slew of negative consequences, it may also force many disreputable, fly-by-night providers into a new line of work. With horror stories emerging of American “piss farms” that exist solely to collect hefty payments from insurers, or “tough love” approaches taken around the world, where addicts in desperate need of treatment are belittled, mistreated, and forced to perform menial work, one consequence of COVID-19 might be a new focus on health which refuses to accept regressive, rapacious, and damaging methods of treatment. We at Tabula Rasa Retreat have dedicated our lives to the cause of freeing individuals from addiction, and nothing offends us more deeply than treatment providers whose contempt for their patients manifests itself in substandard care.
We know firsthand how horrifying the effects of addiction can be. We also know that effective treatments, such as ibogaine, are out there, ready to be put to use to restore individuals to health, happiness, and their loved ones. We will be doing everything we can to push the cause of sane, safe, and compassionate treatment forward as COVID-19 rages around the globe, in the hopes that when the virus lets up, policy-makers are ready to prioritize the health-care needs of society’s most vulnerable citizens. If you’re interested in starting your fight against addiction today, get in touch with us!
For further information visit www.tabularasaretreat.com or call PT +351 965 751 649 UK +44 7961 355 530