3.5 Substance Abuse - ReadySetGooo/Sustainable-Development-Goals GitHub Wiki

Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol

United States

CURRENT KNOWLEDGE

Resources

Drug and harm reduction information:

Recovery Resources

  • SMART Recovery. SMART was created for people seeking a self-empowering way to overcome addictive problems. SMART stands for Self-Management and Recovery Training. It is a transformative method of moving from addictive substances and negative behaviors to a life of positive self-regard and willingness to change. https://www.smartrecovery.org/ 

  • Recovery Dharma: Recovery Dharma offers an approach to recovery based on Buddhist principles. Our program is peer-led and non-theistic and provides an opportunity to deepen understanding, explore personal inquiry, and connect with others. https://recoverydharma.org/ 

Lay-Person Tasks

  1. Carry Narcan. Learn how to use it and how to identify when someone is having an overdose. If you give someone narcan for an overdose it won't hurt them if it's not an Opioid overdose.

  2. Understand that substance abuse and addiction is an illness, not a choice. 

  3. Treat people who struggle with addiction in a compassionate way. If you struggle with addiction, treat yourself in a compassionate way. 

  4. Connect with others and build a strong support system, to support you and others. People who are well-connected are less likely to become addicted and are more likely to recover.

  • Commit to contacting 1-5 people once a week. If you don’t know that many people, commit to making 1-5 friends. 

  • Commit to doing either one hour or one thing per week to help someone in your community- volunteer work through an organization doesn’t count.

  1. Work on your mental health. Many people who struggle with substance abuse recover when the people around them work on themselves. (If you live with someone who struggles with addiction and you have less power in the relationship, still work on your mental health but disregard this step) This is important to do even if you don’t think you know anyone who struggles with substance use- because a lot of the time you don’t know what others are going through! This is also important for your own health.
  • Learn 20 coping skills, and commit to practicing a skill once a week or once a day. Continue until using coping skills feels natural to do. 

Do the work! 

  • Identify one thing you struggle with when it comes to your mental health. 

  • Learn about it, by doing research and personal reflection.

  • Create a tangible plan on how to improve it.

  • Revisit your plan once a week or however often makes sense for you, and write notes on your progress! 

Action Tasks

Informational Resources

Drug Policy 

Books 

Find more info from Hilary Argo at: https://hilaryagro.com/resources/

Drugs, General Audience.

  • Bourgois, Philippe. 1995. In Search Of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Bourgois, Philippe and Jeffrey Schonberg. 2008. Righteous Dopefiend. Berkeley: University of California Press.

  • Boyd, Susan. 2017. Busted: An Illustrated History of Drug Prohibition in Canada. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing.

  • Boyd, Susan C., Donald MacPherson, and Bud Osborn. 2009. Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing.

  • Erika Dyck & Jesse Donaldson. The Acid Room: The Psychedelic Trials and Tribulations of Hollywood Hospital

  • Hart, Carl L. 2021. Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty In The Land Of Fear. New York: Penguin Random House.

  • Lattin, Don. 2011. The Harvard Psychedelic Club. HarperOne.

  • Lupick, Travis. 2017. Fighting For Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press.

  • Gabor Mate (2008). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

  • Pine, Jason. 2019. The Alchemy of Meth: A Decomposition. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

  • Robertson, Leslie and Dara Culhane. 2005. In Plain Sight: Reflections on Life in Downtown Eastside. Vancouver: Talonbooks.

  • Rolles, Steve. 2017. Legalizing Drugs: How to End the War. Oxford, UK: New Internationalist.

  • Quinones, Sam. 2015. Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic. New York: Bloomsbury Press.

  • Schultes, Richard Evans, Albert Hofmann, and Christian Rätsch. 1992. Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press.

  • Reider, Travis. In Pain

Drugs, Academic Audience

  • Alexander, Bruce K. 2008. The Globalization of Addiction: A Study in Poverty of the Spirit. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

  • Bourgois, Philippe. 1995. In Search Of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Bourgois, Philippe and Jeffrey Schonberg. 2008. Righteous Dopefiend. Berkeley: University of California Press.

  • Boyd, Susan. 2017. Busted: An Illustrated History of Drug Prohibition in Canada. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing.

  • Boyd, Susan C., Donald MacPherson, and Bud Osborn. 2009. Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing.

  • Courtwright, David T. 2001. Forces of Habit: Drugs and the Making of the Modern World. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

  • Dyck, Erika. 2009. Psychedelic Psychiatry. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

  • Lupick, Travis. 2017. Fighting For Space: How a Group of Drug Users Transformed One City’s Struggle with Addiction. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press.

  • Paley, Dawn. 2014. Drug War Capitalism. Oakland, CA: AK Press.

  • Pine, Jason. 2019. The Alchemy of Meth: A Decomposition. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

  • Robertson, Leslie and Dara Culhane. 2005. In Plain Sight: Reflections on Life in Downtown Eastside. Vancouver: Talonbooks.

  • Rolles, Steve. 2017. Legalizing Drugs: How to End the War. Oxford, UK: New Internationalist.

  • Raikhel, Eugene and William Garriott, eds. 2013. Addiction Trajectories. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

  • Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. 1992. Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicants. New York: Pantheon Press.

  • Zigon, Jarrett. 2018. A War on People: Drug User Politics and a New Ethics of Community. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

Paradigms

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

Rules

  • End medical abuse, neglect, and malpractice in rehab centers

  • Expand addiction treatment services at all levels- from therapy to residential 

  • Improve the quality of homelessness services. See goal 1.3

  • Use human rights witnesses to prevent medical discrimination of people who have addiction.

Information Flows

  • Develop an intentional community roommate matching service. Have a space for people to advertise their existing community.

Stock and Flow Structures

  • Intentional Community for families at risk of CWS involvement ONLY because of neglect due to mental illness, disability, other health problems, parent hospitalization, poverty, or lack of community support. Employees include babysitters, caregivers, extended-babysitting when the parent is in the hospital or away, and foster parents for situations where foster care placement is sincerely needed (ex. orphaned) but the child wants to stay in the community. CWS reports of neglect can only be reported against staff. Employees live on-site and are participants in the community.

  • See emotional laborers in the goal above. This would be especially helpful for people with high ACE scores.

  • Expand harm reduction programs, including access to fentanyl testing strips, which can detect laced drugs

  • Safe-use living, where people can safely use substances and live in an intentional community. This is for people whose goal is to have the best quality of life they can while using. Employees include emotional laborers, recreation therapists, safety specialists, (who can de-escalate situations) and people who can provide palliative care, caregiving, medical care, and substance dose recommendations. On request people can see employment specialists, tutors, and volunteer coordinators (they would have a similar role to employment specialists, but for volunteer opportunities).

  • End the housing shortage