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This Week on Drugs

Torture Flights: A plane found with kilos of cocaine last year, records say, “flew several times to Guantanamo, Cuba, presumably to transfer terrorism suspects.”

Most Caffeinated Cities: Chicago and Tampa.

Line Snackers: Conservative member of British parliament forced to eat Coffeemate to prove it wasn’t cocaine.

Linebackers: Is the NFL driving players to drink?

FDA: Reveals 20 drugs under investigation for dangerous side effects.

The Brilliance of Martin Sheen: Opposes rehab measure because it doesn’t use abstinence-only model. And we know how well that works.

Junk in the Trunk: Heroin-addicted elephant released after completing treatment program.

Comments (14)

1

"Junk in the trunk." Fucking genius.

You, sir, are the bard of barbiturates.

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | September 5, 2008 6:43 PM
2

The abstinence model of sex education has nothing to do with abstinence based drug and alcohol treatment programs. Get a clue.

Posted by WTF | September 5, 2008 6:55 PM
3

Jubie, shut up so that I can say that first. AWESOME.

Posted by leek | September 5, 2008 7:14 PM
4

Second WTF @2 - Dominic. Totally unrelated things. You make a very disingenous connection. No matter what you think of either issue, the two are unrelated.

Posted by FTW | September 5, 2008 7:25 PM
5

@ 1 and 3) Thanks!

@ 2 and 4) I disagree. Sure, abstinence-only will work for some people coming off drugs. It keeps some people from having sex until marriage. But lots of other drug users will taper off, relapse, or seek an environment that isn't abstinence-only to quit. Like good sex education, harm reduction is based in reality, human behavior, and science.

Posted by Dominic Holden | September 5, 2008 7:37 PM
6

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/05/politics/horserace/entry4420102.shtml

38.9 million people viewed McCain's address to his convention in St. Paul, while 38.4 million watched Obama's speech in Denver, according to the Neilsen ratings.

Posted by Harry Nielsen | September 5, 2008 11:30 PM
7

NIDA has this to say right off the bat: No single treatment is appropriate for all individuals.

this statement would tend to support dominic's argument.

Posted by ellarosa | September 5, 2008 11:33 PM
8

That poor elephant!

Posted by sepiolida | September 5, 2008 11:48 PM
9

Here's the FDA's list.
Ask your doctor if Carac is right for you!

Wait! I mean Kuric. Couric? Canuck?

Posted by Furcifer | September 5, 2008 11:50 PM
10

@6,

Everyone slows down to look at a car wreck.

Posted by keshmeshi | September 6, 2008 12:01 AM
11

@5 It's true that harm reduction is a complicated issue best viewed through the lens of various sciences. Too bad you didn't reference any studies whatsoever.

Posted by dirge | September 6, 2008 12:46 PM
12

@11: for a great starting point see:
Harm Reduction: Pragmatic Strategies for Managing High-Risk Behaviors, edited by G. Alan Marlatt, 1998, The Guilford Press.

It's ten years old, but it is still a great discussion of this issue.

And yeah, what ellarosa said @7. There is no such thing as a one size fits all model for treatment. That's precisely why we have different types of drug treatment

Posted by gnossos | September 6, 2008 4:12 PM
13

weird, martin sheen spoke at a fundraiser last year for a large seattle nonprofit that focuses on harm reduction.

Posted by martin sheen | September 7, 2008 1:31 AM
14

there is no large Seattle nonprofit that focuses on harm reduction.

There was a medium one (Street Outreach Services), but it no longer exists. Now there's just the People's Harm Reduction Alliance.

And Martin Sheen ain't never done nothing for any of 'em.

Posted by gnossos | September 7, 2008 3:40 AM

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