Understanding Addiction

In a recent reply to a reader’s comment, I waxed eloquent about whether addiction was an impulsive drive or a compulsive drive. Let’s consider the matter more closely. According to neuroscientist Trevor Robbins, impulses can be defined as urges or acts that arise from an input that you can’t inhibit. In other words, the problem […] (Read the rest.)

A reader recently brought up the fascinating connections between Buddhist meditation and neuroscience. There has been a lot of work in the last two decades, trying to develop a scientific foundation for meditation and also teaching science a thing or two, like how meditation changes the brain. In this post I want to suggest how […] (Read the rest.)

In my last post I talked about the debate between the disease model and the choice model of addiction. I argued that you need to understand a bit about the brain in order to make sense of choice in the first place, and I reviewed some of the changes in the brain brought about by […] (Read the rest.)

Tomorrow, for my last publicity event in Toronto, I’m giving a talk at a Harm Reduction group. I don’t know that much about harm reduction as a philosophy or practice. I do know that I like the idea that there are many and varied paths to recovery, or maintenance, or whatever you want to call a relatively harm-free solution to addiction. (Read the rest.)

People have asked me how I feel about the Insite issue. Insite is a clinic in downtown Vancouver that provides a safe environment for junkies to shoot (their own) dope. The Supreme Court of Canada just overruled Harper’s attempt to shut it down. Did they do the right thing? Should we make it easier or harder for junkies to shoot up safely? (Read the rest.)