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Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
This is a critical commentary on the chronic, relapsing brain disease model that has become popular to explain addiction. The harms of this approach on people who use drugs (PWUD), policies and health care are explained. An alternative way to frame and respond to drug use, one of harm reduction and social justice is discussed.
Findings/Key points
One of the main points of this article is to highlight that addiction medicine (i.e. opioid agonist therapy) does not work for everyone, which proponents of the brain disease model proport does. Prioritization of pharmacological treatment has also diverted attention away from the repressive drug policies fueling mass incarceration since the 1970s. They emphasize the need to recognize the bio-socio-political reasons for substance use, and by extension the importance of not forcing abstinence on anyone by using harm reduction as a tool to allow for self-determination, social inclusion, health, and self-worth.
