Defining Recovery Beyond Sobriety

"I’m not saying that quitting drugs isn’t difficult for people with addictions; I just don’t see the point of viewing sobriety itself as the goal, as some kind of marker of success or a life well lived. Sure, some people do well with sobriety as defined by 12-step programmes, but many others find the recreational use of substances they never used problematically to be helpful in maintaining stability and balance. Medications such as methadone and buprenorphine are considered the gold standard in the treatment of opioid use disorders. Quitting these medications, often encouraged by 12-step groups, can increase the risk of death. There’s also the fact that Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) programs have been proven to save and stabilise lives. Contingency management shows promise for the treatment of stimulant use disorders. Denying people the use of the word “recovery” because they couldn’t succeed in achieving the strict abstinence-based terms that 12-step programmes enforce isn’t practical."