READING RECOMMENDATIONS
“It is impossible to understand addiction without asking what relief the [individual] finds, or hopes to find, in the drug or the addictive behavior.”
- Gabor Maté
Trauma and stress
Much is misunderstood about the impact of trauma and overall stress on our mental and physical wellbeing. Taking time to understand these concepts can help each of us move out of stuck points in our lives.
Substance use
Whether you use substances that are for recreational use, prescribed, or unregulated, it can be interesting to learn how these different substances alters our experiences.
Human trafficking
Human trafficking and substances are often associated, each influencing the other for many people. People are often forced and coerced to participate in sex work leaving them vulnerable to and more likely to engage in substance use, and even forced to consume drugs. Even when people choose sex work as a profession, they do so without a system of protection from violence and are often targeted by law enforcement.
Racism
White supremacy harms everyone. It is the cause of the Drug War. Although people of color use substances at lower rates, they die at higher rates of fatal overdoses than white users and are imprisoned at considerably higher rates than white people.
Opioid epidemic
From the Sackler family to Appalachia, there is a lot of information available explaining the evolution of the current opioid epidemic killing 220 people every day.
Public Health
We cannot have a conversation about substance use without recognizing the influence in a public health perspective.
