Earlier this week, I saw Winter’s Bone, a chilling film that chronicles a teenage girl’s search for her missing father in the bucolic, yet hostile world of the Missouri Ozarks. While the film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Festival, is ultimately about perseverance in the face of incredible odds, it is difficult to separate the narrative from the meth-ravaged landscape in which it unfolds. read more
Although heroin use in general has declined or leveled off in many areas, the rate of heroin use among teens has increased dramatically—especially in the suburbs. And they’re not the kids you’d expect. read more
It’s been more than twenty years since I left the service, but I can still salute, with my fingers straight and perfectly aligned, as though I were back at the base.
At the age of eighteen, I saw the Air Force as less of a patriotic duty than a means to an end—a way to… read more
Scott Aalund joined Phoenix Academy of Los Angeles as a teacher in 1997. After leaving to work in Head Start in 2002, he returned to Phoenix Academy in 2005, where he now teaches a special Day Class. Recently, he won the prestigious Teacher of the Year award from the Los Angeles County Office… read more
The national debate on health care reform has overlooked an area of vast potential savings—the treatment of substance abuse. Untreated or under-treated substance abusers are world-class consumers of health care dollars; they are repeat customers, who crowd emergency rooms and overwhelm clinics.
A recent study by CASA, Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction… read more
More than 15 years ago, Joan Hajjar was living on the edge. Homeless and without hope, her daily existence revolved around her next drug or drink. Determined to beat her addiction, she entered Phoenix House in 1993, where she found the tools to reclaim her life. Now serving as director of Phoenix House’s AmeriCorps… read more
When I learned about the death of DJ AM—the celebrity spinner who struggled with addiction, but stayed sober for over 11 years—I felt the tragedy at the gut level.
I have been in the substance abuse field for over 20 years, first as a treatment provider and then as a researcher. But it… read more
Back for a second season is A&E’s hit series “The Cleaner,” with Benjamin Bratt starring as an “extreme interventionist,” a character based on the life of the show’s co-executive producer Warren Boyd. What’s encouraging about “The Cleaner” is the exposure the series gives to drug misuse and the nature of addictive behavior… read more