There is a safe, nontoxic drug called naloxone that can instantly reverse opioid overdose and prevent most of these deaths. But the drug war interferes with saving overdose victims in two ways: first, because witnesses to overdose fear prosecution, they… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
Because of the war on drugs, pain patients are treated with skepticism and pain doctors live in fear of being prosecuted for overprescribing. The end result is that addicts still get their opioids without much trouble, while genuine patients often… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
Punishment by definition isn't going to help. So what you need to do is to help people to change and recover is to help… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
There's traditionally been two different ways of seeing addiction. Either it's a sin and you're a horrible bad person and you are just choosing… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
The thing about our drug laws is that they're not based on science. — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
Marijuana is not not harmful, but is the least harmful psychoactive substance that we have, with the possible exception of caffeine. — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
There is a safe, nontoxic drug called naloxone that can instantly reverse opioid overdose and prevent most of these deaths. But the drug war… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
When President Nixon declared war on drugs on June 17, 1971, about 110 people per 100,000 in the population were incarcerated. Today, we have… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
Because of the war on drugs, pain patients are treated with skepticism and pain doctors live in fear of being prosecuted for overprescribing. The… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
I think our drug laws need to be made scientifically, as best as possible, recognizing that values will always be part of that. — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
Addiction is when you fall in love with a drug instead of a child or a lover and the learning that takes part in… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
We should not be putting kids in cages and hoping that is going to fix their psychological problems of any type. — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
I don't have kids, but I've often noticed when people first become parents they seem to completely forget their own adolescence and they start… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
In order for people to recover, we can't just say 'love is all we need.' — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
If you're worried about a kid and drug use, the safest, best thing to do is individual counseling or family therapy, none of which… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
Incarceration is as useful for addiction as it is for diabetes - i.e., not useful and potentially harmful, particularly for kids. — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
In a criminal justice setting, it's very hard to create a therapeutic environment where people do feel safe, but the real important thing to… — Maia Szalavitz Copy Share Image
